Drawing on job demands-resources theory, this study investigates how green tape and servant leadership affect public employees’ well-being. Specifically, green tape (i.e., decreased unreasonable job demands) and servant leadership (i.e., increased supplementary job resources) will positively shape public employees’ well-being via ego depletion and meaningfulness. Based on a three-wave study of public employees in China, results empirically support our expectations. These findings underline the role of green tape and servant leadership in shaping job demands, job resources, and public employees’ well-being, extending existing public administration knowledge. This research suggests that public organizations could benefit from integrating job demands-resources perspective insights into their practices.
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