Gregory B. Lewis

Public Service Motivation and Job Performance Evidence from the Federal Sector

Perry and Wise (1990) argued that people with high public service motivation (PSM) are more likely than others to choose government jobs, to perform better on the job, and to respond more to nonutilitarian incentives once in government. Using multiple regression and logit analyses on responses by 35,000 federal, white-collar employees to the 1991 Survey of Federal Employees and the 1996 Merit Principles Survey, this article tests the link between PSM and job performance in the federal service. There is mixed evidence on whether PSM positively affected grades and performance ratings, clearer evidence that employees who expected to receive a material reward for exceptional performance attained higher grades and performance ratings, and no evidence that the link between material rewards and performance mattered any less to those with high PSM.

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES Working Hard or Hardly Working

Are government employees lazier than private-sector employees? Drawing from theories of work motivation and public service motivation, this article examines three public-private differences that might produce different levels of work effort in the two sectors. First, government and business may offer different extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Second, public and private workers may seek different rewards. Third, public and private workers may differ in personal characteristics that predict work effort. Using 1989 and 1998 data fromthe General Social Survey, we find that government employees reported slightly higher work effort than those in the private sector. Public- and private-sector workers differ in the value they place on extrinsic and intrinsic motivators, in the rewards their jobs offer, and in some personal characteristics. Government jobs offering interesting work and opportunities to help others, combined with the greater age of public employees, explain most of the sectoral differences in self-reported work effort.

Turnover Intention and Turnover Behavior: Implications for Retaining Federal Employees

As the retirement wave of Baby Boomers approaches, retaining newly hired, mid-career, and retirement-eligible employees will be nearly as crucial as hiring top-quality new people. Using two large data sets on federal employees, we focus on whether human resource management (HRM) practices can affect turnover intention and whether they matter equally at all stages of the federal career. First, however, we test how well turnover intention predicts behavior using a 1% sample of the Central Personnel Data File (CPDF) and the 2005 Merit Principles Survey (MPS). Although turnover intention and behavior are correlated, they respond differently enough to demographic factors to suggest the need for caution in extrapolating the apparent impact of HRM practices from turnover intention to behavior.

Same-Sex Marriage and the 2004 Presidential Election

Immediately after the 2004 election, with overwhelming majorities in 13 states voting to amend their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage and exit polls showing large numbers saying “moral values” were the most important determinant of their vote, many analysts emphasized religious and cultural divides in the electorate and the importance of the religious right and same-sex marriage in motivating President George W. Bushs base to get out and vote (e.g., Chinni 2004 ; Cooperman and Edsall 2004; Dao 2004 ; Manly 2004 ; McGough 2004 ; Testa 2004 ). With more analysis, the consensus seems to have shifted to an emphasis on incumbency, terrorism, and perceptions of character. Both voter turnout and support for Bush rose across a wide array of groups; evangelical Protestants and voters in states with same-sex marriage amendments on the ballot did not disproportionately increase their numbers or their preference for Bush; white women, married women, and Latinos may have played a bigger role in the shift toward Bush (e.g., Abramowitz 2004 ; Burden 2004 ; Freedman 2004 ; Nordhaus 2004; Sherrill 2004 ; Signorile 2004 ).

Asian Americans in the Public Service: Success, Diversity, and Discrimination

Representative Bureaucracy and Equal Employment Opportunity Public Administration and Social Equity, H. George Frederickson Social Equity and the Public Service, Eugene B. McGregor Measuring Bureaucratic Representation and Integration, David Nachmias and David H. Rosenbloom Progress Toward Racial and Sexual Equality in the Federal Civil Service? Gregory B. Lewis From Civil Rights to Valuing Differences, Walter D. Broadnax Equal Employment Opportunity and the Early Career in Federal Employment, Gregory B. Lewis Racial Unrest in the Military: The Challenge and the Response, Richard Stillman II Affirmative Action The U.S. Supreme Courts Consensus on Affirmative Action, John Nalbandian Affirmative Action and City Managers: Attitudes Toward Recruitment of Women, James Slack Mini-Symposium: Affirmative Action in Public Employment, edited by Lloyd G. Nigro Diversity 1Race, Sex and Supervisory Authority in Federal White-Collar Employment, Gregory B. Lewis 1Asian Americans in the Public Service: Success, Diversity and Discrimination, Pan Suk Kim and Gregory B. Lewis Symposium: Minorities in Public Administration, edited by Adam W. Herbert Gender 1Circumventing the Glass Ceiling: Women Executives in American State Governments, Angela M. Bullard and Deil S. Wright 1Achieving Credibility: An Analysis of Womens Experience, A. Carol Rusaw 1Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward: The Status of Womens Integration into Public Management, Mary E. Guy Symposium: Women in Public Administration, edited by Nesta M. Gallas Aging and Disabilities 1Greying at the Temples: Demographics of a Public Service Occupation, James F. Wolf, Carole M. Neves, Richard T. Greenough, Bill B. Benton 1The Impact of Disabilities on Federal Career Success, Gregory B. Lewis and Cheryl Lynn Allee Mini-Symposium on New Roles for Older Workers: The Neglected Option, edited by Jarold A. Keiffer.

Turnover Rates in Federal White-Collar Employment: Are Women more Likely to Quit than Men?

Between 1976 and 1986, womens gross turnover rates were about one-third higher than mens in the federal civil service. Such differences frequently are cited as a justification for preferring men for positions with high training costs or as one explanation why men earn so much more than women. Using a 1% sample of federal personnel records for 1976-86, this paper shows how misleading gross turnover rates can be. Male-female differences seem to be almost entirely due to differences in average age, salary, and length of service. Men and women in similar circumstances have very similar turnover probabilities.

Can Performance Appraisal Systems Inspire Intrinsically Motivated Employees

Can a performance appraisal system (PAS) elicit better performance from an intrinsically motivated workforce? By explicitly linking extrinsic rewards to performance, a PAS might actually discourage the work effort of the primarily intrinsically motivated federal workforce. Data from the 2000 Merit Principles Survey show that few federal employees believe that the PAS increases their productivity. Logit analysis confirms that intrinsically motivated employees are more skeptical of the effectiveness of PAS than are extrinsically motivated employees who are demographically similar, work in similar positions, and have similar beliefs about the fairness of the system and the probability of being rewarded for superior performance.

Race, Sex, and Occupational Segregation in State and Local Governments

Using EEO-4 data, provided by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for state and local governments with more than 250 employees, this paper details the extent of sexual and racial segregation of occupations in 1987 and trends since 1981. It tests a model of determination of occupational segregation and explores the effect of levels of and declines in segregation on the pay of women and minorities.

The Aging of the State Government Workforce: Trends and Implications

The aging of the baby boom generation, combined with the success of the New Public Management in downsizing the federal government, has led to a rapidly aging federal service, a reduced flow of new blood, and a looming “tsunami” of retirements that are forcing the federal service to reconsider many of its human resource practices. Are state government workforces undergoing the same transformation? Using the 1980, 1990, and 2000 Census 5% Public Use Microdata Samples and the 2001-2007 American Community Surveys, the authors find that state governments have older workers than any other sector and that the mean age of their workforce has risen nearly as much as that of the federal civil service. Thus, the retirement tsunami may hit states harder than the federal government. The authors examine the effects of this coming tsunami on turnover, institutional memory, diversity, and educational qualifications.

Gender Integration of Occupations in the Federal Civil Service: Extent and Effects on Male-Female Earnings

Using the U.S. Office of Personnel Managements Central Personnel Data File, the author shows that from 1976 through 1992 gender integration of occupations proceeded more rapidly and steadily in the federal civil service than in the general economy. During that period, increasing numbers of women moved into traditionally male occupations, especially in professional and administrative work. Little of that progress, the author finds, was attributable to changes in womens education or seniority. Although average grades (indicating levels of responsibility) in male-dominated occupations declined as women entered them, gender integration of occupations helped to narrow male-female pay disparities in the federal service more than in the general economy.