Why Do Public Employees Desire Intrinsic Nonmonetary Opportunities?

Abstract

Public administration research has consistently demonstrated that public employees possess a higher desire for intrinsic nonmonetary opportunities than their private sector counterparts. Yet it is not entirely clear why. Researchers have largely assumed that public service motivation is the reason for these findings. However, no empirical research to date has directly tested this assumption while also taking into account alternate explanations. This study aims to fill that gap in the literature by empirically investigating the relationship that public service motivation has to the intrinsic nonmonetary preferences of public employees while controlling for several confounding explanations. This article closes with some summary findings, a discussion of contributions to the current literature on public service motivation, and the identification of a few issues that deserve further investigation.