Winnowing out high-PSM candidates : the adverse selection effect of competitive public service exams

Existing literature based in Western society generally supports that people who have high public service motivation (PSM) prefer a public service career, and public organizations are likely to recruit high-PSM individuals. This proposition may not hold in cultures where the public service exam is no...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chen, Chung-An, Chen, Don-Yun, Liao, Zhou-Peng, Kuo, Ming-Feng
Other Authors: School of Social Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150836
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Existing literature based in Western society generally supports that people who have high public service motivation (PSM) prefer a public service career, and public organizations are likely to recruit high-PSM individuals. This proposition may not hold in cultures where the public service exam is notoriously competitive. The present study, based in Taiwan, provides evidence showing that a competitive, standardized public service exam, along with its unique social symbolism, can deter high-PSM people from entering the public sector. We then discuss the theoretical and practical implications in the conclusion.