Comparing public service motivation within various Europe countries: do institutional environments make a difference ? Paper

Abstract

The motivation of public servants in general (Behn 1995), and public service motivation (PSM) in particular (Perry and Hondeghem 2008b), have always been important issues in public administration and public management research. In recent years, research on public service motivation has made significant progress, finally living up to the status it has been attributed (Perry and Hondeghem 2008a). Whereas public service motivation research always has been focused on public service as an independent variable, trying to explain its consequences, some recent empirical and theoretical research has been more aimed at unveiling origins of public service motivation (Perry, 1997; Perry 2000; Vandenabeele 2007; Perry and Vandenabeele 2008; Vandenabeele 2008a; Moynihan and Pandey 2007; DeHart- Davis et al 2006; Camilleri 2007).