Public service-oriented work motives across Europe: A cross-country, multi-level investigation

This paper disentangles the country-specific institutional system at the macro-level from individual-level attraction and socialisation in measuring public service-oriented work motives across European countries through public-private sector comparisons. We argue that country-specific institutions shape the level of public service-oriented work motives of each country and thereby generate level differences across countries. In contrast, public-private sector differences, i.e. gaps, in public service-oriented work motives within a country reflect aspects of individual level attraction and socialisation. We use the 2005 and 2010 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey and demonstrate that the levels and gaps are empirically distinct phenomena contrary to current treatment in the literature. We conclude that the distinction between levels and gaps can advance the understanding of antecedents of public service-oriented work motives and support the institutional theory of public service-oriented work motives.