Ethical Performance in Local Governments: An Empirical Study of Organizational Leadership and Ethics Culture

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/02750740231175653
• Author: Tansu Demir,Christopher G. Reddick,Bruce J. Perlman
• Date: 01 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Ethical Performance in Local

Governments: An Empirical Study

of Organizational Leadership and Ethics

Culture

Tansu Demir

1

, Christopher G. Reddick

1

, and Bruce J. Perlman

2

Abstract

How to promote ethical conduct in the public sector has been discussed extensively in the public administration literature, yet

empirical studies that employ comprehensive datasets are rare. This study proposes a hybrid model to explain ethical perfor-

mance in local governments. Results of our study point to the importance of leadership in creating ethical organizations.

Analysis of comprehensive survey data collected from local governments supports our hypothesis that organizational leader-

ship not only promotes ethical behavior directly but also indirectly through reinforcing ethics culture in local governments.

This paper discusses the practical implications of our f‌indings and advances some recommendations to enhanc e ethical con-

duct in the public sector.

Keywords

public administration, local and urban public administration/governance, administrative/public service ethics

Introduction

The ethical character of organizations is an important consid-

eration in public administration because it affects citizen trust

in government. Since public service is more about “idealism”

than “careerism,”(Frederickson, 1996) ethical content of

administration carries signif‌icant weight in determining the

quality of government. The costly consequences of ethics

violations further erode government management capacity

and worsen already-declining trust in the public sector (Lee

& Liu, 2022). Corruption has forced governments to renew

their emphasis on and take action to promote ethical

conduct in public organizations (Beeri et al., 2013). Despite

such increasing awareness of ethics, the public sector still

suffers from serious ethical infractions (Hassan et al., 2014).

How to promote ethical conduct in the public sector has been

discussed extensively in the public administration literature, yet

empirical studies that employ comprehensive datasets are rare

(Beeri et al., 2013). The signif‌icance of organizational leader-

ship as a factor in building and supporting ethical organizations

has received considerable attention in scholarly works (Trice &

Beyer, 1991). For example, a meta-analytic review of published

research found ethical leadership as a very important factor

covered in the literature (Bedi et al., 2016). Another aspect

seen as consequential in the literature is ethical culture, under-

stood as the norms, values, and behaviors shared by an organi-

zation’s members. Culture is a conduit that carries ethical

perspectives. Ethical behavior is inherently complex and

depends on a wide range of factors. From cognitive-

developmental theories of moral judgment to psychoanalytic

theories of motivational processes as well as social learning the-

ories of moral behaviors and inhibitions (Wren, 1982), a broad

spectrum of theoretical approaches, including structural and nor-

mative, are available to understand ethical behavior (Gilman &

Lewis, 1996). Each approach promotes a certain set of variables

to be used in empirical studies. Leadership and ethical culture,

however, stand out as the two important elements in the litera-

ture to potentially explain the ethical performance of organiza-

tions, more particularly the ethical cognition and behaviors of

lower-level employees (Carlson & Perrewe, 1995;

Schaubroeck et al., 2012; Toor & Ofori, 2009). Also, in

public administration literature, leadership and rules are often

presented as alternatives for exploring ethical behavior

(Downe et al., 2016). Considering the lack of empirical

studies in public administration ethics and the need for a parsi-

monious research design, this paper focuses on organizational

leadership, culture, and their interaction to develop a testable

public sector ethics model.

1

University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

2

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

Corresponding Author:

Tansu Demir, Public Administration, University of Texas at San Antonio,

501 W César E Chávez Blvd, San Antonio, TX 78207, USA.

Email: tansu.demir@utsa.edu

Article

American Review of Public Administration

2023, Vol. 53(5-6) 209–223

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/02750740231175653

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