Coming Back Soon: Assessing the Determinants of Absenteeism in the Public Sector

Abstract

This study explores how different factors influence absenteeism in the public sector. In particular, it investigates whether absence rates at work vary as a result of the individual personal traits of civil servants, some organizational features of governments and the context where public agencies operate. The study elaborates on the data on self-reported days of absence for all civil servants working for Italian regional and local governments. Our analysis of the Italian case shows that factors linked to the community where these governments operate influence the absence trends of civil servants; cultural differences in particular (that is different political cultures) are reliable predictors of absenteeism. We then assess the potential areas for research and suggest policies for countering absenteeism in the public sector based on our analysis.