Work-Life Balance and National Context in Attraction to Public Employment. Issue 4 (12th March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moltz, Michael C.
• Is Part Of: International journal of public administration. Volume 42:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 334
• Page End: 344
• Publication Date: 2019-03-12
• Subjects: Work-life balance -- multilevel modeling -- obligation-based intrinsic motives -- employment preferences -- unemployment; Public administration -- Periodicals; 351.05
• DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2018.1463247
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-0692

Abstract

ABSTRACT: What explains preferences for public employment versus private business employment. Much of the extant literature considers this topic within the context of single-nation studies and the work motives of those individuals already employed by government. This study contributes to the public-management literature with a cross-national examination of government employment preferences across 31 national samples using data from the International Social Survey Programme. Results indicate that a desire for more work-life balance is negatively associated with a preference for government employment and that measures of national economic health help explain the variation in preferences for government employment across nations.