Exploring the Context Dependency of the PSM–Performance Relationship

• Author: Mogens Jin Pedersen,Lotte Bøgh Andersen,Mikkel Lynggaard
• Published date: 01 September 2018
• Date: 01 September 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X16671371
• Subject Matter: Articles

Review of Public Personnel Administration

2018, Vol. 38(3) 332 –354

© The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X16671371

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Article

Exploring the Context

Dependency of the

PSM–Performance

Relationship

Mikkel Lynggaard1, Mogens Jin Pedersen2,3,

and Lotte Bøgh Andersen3

Abstract

The public service motivation (PSM) of public employees matters to their performance

at work. Yet research on how context factors moderate the PSM–performance

relationship is sparse. This article shows how the PSM–performance relationship

may depend on two context factors: (a) the extent of work autonomy that a public

organization provides its employees and (b) the service users’ capacity to affect

the organization’s service provision. We test a set of moderation hypotheses using

school data (teacher survey data with administrative data on schools and student).

Using within-student between-teachers fixed effects regression, we find a stronger

PSM–performance relationship in organizational contexts involving greater regulation

of employee work autonomy for users with low to moderate user capacity.

Keywords

public service motivation, performance, work autonomy, user capacity, fixed effects

Since the early 1990s, scholars have increasingly examined the causes and effects of

public service motivation (PSM; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008; Perry & Wise, 1990),

which can be seen as individuals’ “orientation to deliver services to people with the

purpose of doing good for others and society” (Hondeghem & Perry, 2009, p. 6). Much

1The Danish Ministry for Children, Education and Gender Equality, Copenhagen, Denmark

2SFI—The Danish National Centre for Social Research, Copenhagen, Denmark

3Aarhus University, Denmark

Corresponding Author:

Mikkel Lynggaard, The Danish Ministry for Children, Education and Gender Equality, Frederiksholms

Kanal 26, Copenhagen K 1220, Denmark.

Email: mikkel.lynggaard@uvm.dk

671371ROPXXX10.1177/0734371X16671371Review of Public Personnel AdministrationLynggaard et al.

research-article2016

Lynggaard et al. 333

research shows that employee PSM is a determinant of performance in public organi-

zations (Alonso & Lewis, 2001; Bellé, 2013; Brewer & Selden, 2000; Kim, 2005; Naff

& Crum, 1999; Vandenabeele, 2009; Warren & Chen, 2013). However, more research

that expands our understanding of the PSM–performance relationship is needed. In

particular, scholars call for research attention to the context dependency of the PSM–

performance relationship (Bellé, 2013; Pedersen, 2015; Wright & Grant, 2010). How

do organizational settings influence the association between PSM and performance in

public organizations? What workplace context factors moderate the PSM–performance

relationship?

This article contributes by examining how two contextual factors affect the

PSM–performance relationship: (a) the extent of work autonomy that public organi-

zations provide employees and (b) the “user capacity” of the citizens who receive

the organization’s services, defined as their “competence to understand and affect

the provision of the public services” (Kristensen, Andersen, & Pedersen, 2012, p.

947). The work of Le Grand (2003, 2010) and self-determination theory (SDT; Deci

& Ryan, 2004; Gagné & Deci, 2005) guide our focus. As we discuss later, both per-

spectives imply that work autonomy and service user capacity may influence the

association between PSM and performance. Yet, the two perspectives provide differ-

ent expectations about the direction in which work autonomy and the service user

capacity affect the association.

PSM has been shown to be highly relevant in public schools (Andersen, Heinesen,

& Pedersen, 2014; Van Loon, 2016). We therefore investigate the context dependency

of the association between teacher PSM and student grades. The teachers’ work efforts

matter for the development of the individual students and thus for future societal

growth and welfare. Because student education serves both the interest of the indi-

vidual students and the public interest, we focus on the PSM dimensions of

“Compassion” and “Commitment to the Public Interest” (CPI). Combining survey

data from teachers with administrative data on students and schools and using student

fixed effects (SFEs) regression, we test how work autonomy and user capacity moder-

ate the PSM–performance relationship in the area of schooling. Do these two contex-

tual factors strengthen or weaken the effect of PSM on performance?

Theory: The Conditional Relationship Between PSM and

Performance

PSM theory argues that public sector jobs are intrinsically motivating for people with

high PSM, in turn making them work harder and perform better (Perry & Wise, 1990).

Empirically, PSM tends to be positively associated with performance in public organi-

zations (Alonso & Lewis, 2001; Bellé, 2013; Brewer & Selden, 2000; Kim, 2005; Naff

& Crum, 1999; Vandenabeele, 2009). A meta-analysis by Warren and Chen (2013)

confirms the existence of a significant and positive PSM–performance relationship,

but they find that association is somewhat weak and stronger in other countries than in

the United States. Based on a systematic literature review, Ritz, Brewer, and Neumann

(2016) suggest that the findings on the PSM–performance relationship are mixed and