Public Service Motivation

Jubilee Fund of the City of Vienna for the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration

The concept of Public Service Motivation (PSM) focuses on the distinctive motivations for public sector employees. Based on the features of PSM in specific administrative contexts we are interested in the appropriateness of various incentive structures in the civil service. The PSM concept as well as its operationalisation for empirical research originally was developed for the Anglo-Saxon context. Currently it is also increasingly gaining attraction in European public management whereby empirical data are available only to a very limited degree and indicate the need to adopt the concept with regard to differences in national administrative traditions. Especially data and contributions from German-speaking countries have not been present in the academic discussions yet.
Based on a questionnaire-survey the current project analyses the relevant dimensions and features of PSM in Austria with a special focus on the City of Vienna. We are also interested in the relevance of various influence factors (PSM as dependent variable) as well as its impact on identification, commitment and work satisfaction (PSM as independent variable). These analyses should help to develop options for a modern HRM in the context of a quite rigid salary system.