Do Employees Behave Differently in Public - Vs Private-Sector Organizations? A state-of-the-art review

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Abstract

Governmental, public-sector organizations are known to operate differently than private, for-profit organizations. But do sector differences exist at the individual level as well? In this article we review twenty-eight hypothesis-driven empirical studies on this question. Most of the single studies found significant individual-level differences between the two sectors, although not always in the expected direction. After showing the limited available evidence, we criticize this line of inquiry and recommend to: (1) test broader models in which sector is only one of a range of variables; (2) enhance refinement in the use of research methods; and (3) improve the theoretical underpinning
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)967-1002
JournalPublic management review
Volume13
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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