Public Service Motivation: A Test of the Job Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model

ABSTRACT Public service motivation (PSM) research suggests that PSM influences employee sector choice, yet relatively little research examines how time moderates this relationship. In this research we examine public service motivation among private and public sector lawyers. Using survey data that measure sector of employment at multiple time periods, we investigate the stability of the relationship between individual reward orientations and sector employment choice over time. Our findings suggest that while PSM may not clearly predict the employment sector of a respondent's first job, it does increase the likelihood that a respondent's subsequent job is in the public sector. Notes *p < 0.05. a As reported in 1984. b As reported in 1990. *p < 0.05. a As reported in 1990. *p < 0.05. a As reported in 1984. Gregg et al.'s (2008) study used the same measure (in this case a lower willingness to work unpaid overtime) to predict which employees moved from the public sector to the private sector. Recent work has suggested that public interest organizations are struggling to recruit talented law graduates into the legal services arena. Studies show that this recruitment challenge is compounded by problems in retaining lawyers, as attorney attrition siphons off already scarce resources from these organizations providing legal access (Equal Justice Works et al. 2002). In fact, Boylan's (Citation2004) study of public sector lawyers found that comparatively lower government salaries led to increased turnover. In 2007, the American Bar Foundation reported that there were 1,143,358 lawyers actively practicing and residing in the United States (American Bar Association Citation2007) with approximately 1/8 of the profession employed in the public sector (American Bar Association Citation2006). We recognize Joanne Martin from the American Bar Foundation for her assistance in using and understanding the data. Phone respondents only completed an abbreviated set of survey questions that did not include information regarding their PSM. Panel respondents were only asked for the information regarding their reward orientation used to measure PSM in the initial 1984 survey. The follow-up survey in 1990 did, however, provide updated information about the recipient's current job including sector of employment. As with the initial 1984 sample, those responding to 1990 survey by phone only completed an abbreviated set of survey questions that did not include information regarding their PSM. Respondents describing their job setting as professors were excluded from this analysis. Ranging from 1 (very prestigious) to 4 (not at all prestigious). Perhaps this is because individuals initially perceive that practicing law is socially important work, regardless of the specific type of practice. Beyond the general role of law in society, pro bono work provides a specific outlet for attorneys—primarily from the private sector—to benefit society. Our analysis of these data found that 64.8% of government lawyers report making less than $39,999 in 1983 compared to only 46.5% of private sector lawyers. A difference can also be seen at the higher income levels as 21.9% of private sector lawyers report salaries over $75,000 compared to only 3.4% of public sector lawyers. This is consistent with more complete and recent information that indicate that private sector lawyers are not only higher paid but also have higher starting salaries (see Bureau of Labor Statistics Citation2006 and Citation2010). To test the possible influence of graduate school socialization, supplemental analyses were conducted controlling for the year the respondent graduated from law school instead of age. This substitution did not change the results (Tables 3 and 4). Both age and year of graduation could not be used in the models simultaneously as they were highly correlated (r = 0.93). Some notable differences between the two samples became clear when looking at gender and the secondary reasons for choosing a legal career. First, compared to those surveyed as part of the 1984 panel, respondents surveyed for the first time in 1990 included a higher percentage of women. Second, women were much more likely than men to choose social service/helping others as their second reason. To provide sufficient time after accepting their first legal job to allow for turnover opportunity, we only included individuals in the analysis that had graduated at least two years before the survey was conducted. Due to low sample sizes, similar analyses could not be conducted with either the 1990 cross-sectional data or the panel data comparing employment sector changes between 1984 and 1990. While a statistically significant difference was found in only 8 of the 14 years analyzed, it was only found in 5 of the 11 years in which the General Social Survey was conducted using a full probability sample. In their study of MPA and MBA graduates, Tschirhart and colleagues (Citation2008) found that the importance individuals place on work that helps others not only predicts their preference to work for government but whether they actually do work for government. Similarly, after controlling for other variables, Lewis and Frank (Citation2002) found PSM predicts the preference to work for government among General Social Survey respondents but only predicts whether they work in government for one of their three different classifications of public administrators. In fact, in a supplemental analysis including only 1984 respondents whose first job was in the private sector, we found that PSM increased the likelihood that they would later leave to accept jobs in the public sector (logistic regression results are not reported here but are available from the authors). Unfortunately, given that PSM was measured concurrently with the latter job, this relationship may well be due to socialization rather than attraction-selection processes. Additional informationNotes on contributorsBradley E. Wright Bradley E. Wright is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research, which focuses on the work climate and motivation in public and nonprofit organizations, has appeared in journals such as the Administration and Society, American Review of Public Administration, International Public Management Journal, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Public Administration Review. Robert K. Christensen Robert K. Christensen (rkchris@uncc.edu) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at University of North Carolina Charlotte. He earned his Ph.D. in Public Affairs at Indiana University. At the behavioral level he is interested in the impact of anti-social (e.g., prejudice) and pro-social (e.g., public service motivation, voluntary behavior, organization citizenship) attitudes/actions on public and nonprofit work groups and organizations.