A Categorical Framework of Ethical Leadership for Public Organizations: Testing a Multi-Dimensional Model of Local Government Managers

Abstract

Organizational managers serve as ethical role models in their capacity as leaders. Mainstream research on ethics leadership is multidisciplinary, although empirical research is dominated by business administration and psychology scholars with less empirical work in public administration. This article develops and tests a categorical framework for ethical leadership behavior by applying it to data from a national survey of Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) of local governments in the United States. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to test six dimensions of ethical leadership behavior and support is found for the model. This research is novel since it extends the ethical leadership research in business administration and psychology to local government managers and by extension, to public managers in general.