Local Government Employees Research Articles

State and local government employment in the COVID-19 crisis

Local governments are facing large losses in revenues and increased expenditures because of the COVID-19 crisis. We document a causal relationship between fiscal pressures induced by COVID-19 and the layoffs of state and local government workers. States that depend more on sales tax as a source of revenue laid off significantly more workers than other states. The CARES Act’s provision of $150 billion in aid to state and local governments reduced the fiscal pressures they faced. Exploiting a kink in the formula for allocation of funding across states, we estimate that without this funding state and local governments would have laid off an additional 401,000 workers in April 2020, 40 percent more than realized. State rainy day fund balances limit the sensitivity of employment to these revenue shocks, revealing that balanced budget requirements for state and local governments increase the procyclicality of public service provision.

Do State and Local Government Employees Save Outside of Their Defined Benefit Plans When They Need To?

As state and local policymakers enact benefit cuts to reduce the cost of their pension systems, the life-cycle model suggests that workers will adjust by saving more on their own. But, whether workers actually respond to pension characteristics remains an open question. After all, income received far in the future may not be salient to young workers deciding how much of their earnings to consume in the present. To answer the question, this paper links the Survey of Income and Program Participation to the Public Plans Database and explores whether state and local workers consider the amount of their pension savings, the funded status of their plan, or their Social Security coverage when deciding whether to participate in a supplemental defined contribution (DC) plan. The paper found that: • Employees whose pensions provide less income are more likely to participate in a supplemental DC plan, but the effect is small. • Members of poorly funded pension plans are not more likely to participate in supplemental plans than members of well-funded plans. • Employees without Social Security coverage are not compensating with greater participation in supplemental plans. The policy implications of the findings are: • If state and local employers are forced to further curtail their pensions, employees are unlikely to replace that income with outside savings. • In the event that poorly funded pension plans end up reducing retirement income for current employees, those employees are unlikely to have been saving more in anticipation. • In short, states and localities – especially those whose workers are not covered by Social Security – should not count on outside savings to replace pension income.

Yerel Yönetimlerde Bilişim Teknolojileri Kullanımı, Yeterliği ve Halkla İlişkiler: Kocaeli Örneği

This research was aimed to measure the competence of local government employees regarding information technology usage, advantages of information technology usage and the perceptions about public relations practices. Screening model was used in the study. The research population consists of the employees of Izmit, Basiskele and Gölcük district municipality. In sampling selection, easy sampling method was preferred. The sample consists of 181 employees in Izmit, Basiskele and Golcuk municipalities. It was observed that the basic technology competencies and their sub-dimensions showed a positive relationship with public relations and their sub-dimensions. It is seen that the advantage and sub-dimensions of information technologies are in a positive relationship between public relations and sub-dimensions. It has been indicated that gender, income, marital status, position and seniority do not make any difference on basic technology competencies, information technology advantage and public relations. It was observed that age and education level among demographic variables made a difference on basic technology competencies, information technology advantage and public relations. It is possible to claim that as the basic technology competence levels of the employees increase, their level of information technology advantage and public relations perception also increase. Employees must use information technologies effectively to serve citizens appropriately. It is recommended that local governments take the training needs of their employees into account.

Supporting and Non-supporting Entities of the Mayor in Polish Municipalities with Cohabitation

In the present legal state, the mayor is an important political leader in Polish municipalities. On account of being elected in direct elections and enjoying a broad range of powers, he/she is a natural local leader. Another municipal authority is the council, which fulfills decision-making and supervisory functions. Whether the mayor can effectively act depends on the outcome of elections and, in consequence, the council’s composition. Elections may lead to the phenomenon of cohabitation. This occurs when the mayor does not have the support of an absolute majority in the council or represents the opposite political camp to the members of the municipal council. Taking into account 1,737 questionnaires and 74 interviews, it turns out that mayors do not operate in a political and administrative vacuum. Even if they make decisions on their own, they need internal (councilors, local government employees) and external (entrepreneurs, representatives of NGOs, the Catholic Church, political parties) help.

Local Government Finances and Balanced Budgets in the COVID-19 Crisis

Local governments are facing large losses in revenues and increased expenditures because of the COVID-19 crisis. We document a causal relationship between fiscal pressures induced by COVID-19 and the layoffs of state and local government workers. States that depend more on sales tax as a source of revenue laid off significantly more workers than other states. The CARES Act's provision of \$150 billion in aid to state and local governments reduced the fiscal pressures they faced. Exploiting a kink in the formula for allocation of funding across states, we estimate a state and local government employment multiplier for federal aid---each dollar of federal aid was used by states to support 31 cents of payrolls. State rainy day fund balances limit the sensitivity of employment to both revenue shocks, revealing that balanced budget requirements for state and local governments increase the procyclicality of public service provision.

지방공무원 수당 부당수령의 영향요인에 관한 연구: A 광역시 사례

수당이 보수에서 차지하는 비중은 줄어들었지만, 지급기준과 목적이 명확히 정해지지 않은 수당들이 보수의 투명성을 떨어뜨리고 보수체계의 왜곡을 초래하고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 A 광역시에서 호봉제 적용을 받는 6급 이하의 일반직 공무원을 대상으로 공무원 수당 부당수령에 영향을 미치는 요인들을 실증적으로 조사하고자 한다. 부패 삼각이론 및 선행연구를 바탕으로 공무원 수당 부당수령에 영향을 미치는 독립변수로서 보수 만족도, 보수 공정성, 제도, 조직 문화를 선정하였다. 153명의 응답을 토대로 로짓 분석을 수행한 결과 타인의 부당수령 목격 경험 및 자신의 부당수령 경험에 영향을 미치는 요인이 다르게 분석되었다. 타인의 부당수령 목격 경험에 영향을 미치는 요인은 조직 문화만 유의하게 도출된 반면, 자신의 부당수령 경험은 보수 공정성과 조직 문화가 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 통제변수 중 직급은 타인의 부당수령 목격 경험 및 자신의 부당수령 경험 모두에 유의한 영향을 미쳤다. 통계 분석과 더불어 일부 응답자들을 대상으로 익명 인터뷰를 수행하여 이를 토대로 공무원의 수당 부당수령을 낮출 수 있는 정책적 시사점을 제시하였다.

Procedural Environment of Public Engagement: An Induced Recall Experiment of Local Government Employees

This research (1) examines how employees’ recollections of public engagement are associated with their willingness for future engagement (WFE), (2) assesses whether employees’ discrete recollections are driven by their procedural environments, and (3) tests whether the valence of recall moderates that relationship. We find that higher levels of red tape are associated with lower WFE. However, positive recollections of engagement mollify that relationship. Qualitative evidence reveals the prominence of one’s procedural environment across groups, but in terms of helping the public navigate administrative burdens in the positive treatment group and rules that hinder the employees in the negative treatment group.

Supervisor Feedback and Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Trust in Supervisor and Affective Commitment

This study aimed to explore how the mechanisms of supervisor feedback affect innovative work behavior (IWB) among local government employees and to examine the mediating roles of trust in supervisor and affective commitment, using organizational support theory (OST) and social exchange theory. The results from a cross-sectional study based on a sample of 1,699 local government employees from 65 local governments indicated that supervisor feedback had a direct effect on IWB. Trust in supervisor and affective commitment significantly mediated the relationship between supervisor feedback and IWB. The findings of this study contribute to an advanced understanding of the supervisor feedback-IWB relationship by testing the mediation model in the local government context.

Countermeasures for stress on disaster-affected japan local government employee during the reconstruction period

Countermeasures for stress on disaster-affected japan local government employee during the reconstruction period

ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES THROUGH STRATEGIC TRAINING PROGRAMMES

The thesis of the study is that effective service delivery by the local government employees is a function of a strategic training framework. Extant literature examined captured the importance of training and development programmes in the local government and stated among other things, that training increases employees productivity, reduce costs, boost morale, promote stability, flexibility and service delivery at the grassroots. The arguments are substantiated with the training and high-performance theory advanced by Gallie and White (1993). The study adopts ex post facto design. Data are obtained from secondary sources and analysed using the content analytical technique. Empirical analysis of literature provides the framework for conclusion and policy recommendation. The study advocates for a strategic continuous training plan to enhance the capacity of local government employees and service delivery in Nigeria.

The Moderating Role of Work Discipline on The Links Between Locus of Control and Work Ethics in Local Government Employees

The aim of this study is to analyze the role of internal locus of control and external locus of control on work ethics. In addition, this study also analyzes the role of work discipline as a mediating variable. This study uses a quantitative approach. The number of research samples is 114 people. They are civil servants in the city government environment in East Java. Data analysis uses path analysis. The analysis shows that the two-locus of control variables have a positive effect on work ethics. Internal locus of control also has a positive effect on work discipline. Meanwhile, external locus of control does not affect work discipline. Analyst results show that work discipline has a role as a mediating variable. Meanwhile, in the external locus of control of work ethics, work discipline does not act as a mediating variable.

Analyzing government role in rural tourism development: An empirical investigation from China

Abstract Rural tourism in China is flourishing, largely credited by the scholars in China to the national government's stimulating policies and emphasis on rural regeneration. Against this backdrop and given the scarce literature on the government as a critical stakeholder in rural tourism, this study examines the roles of Chinese central- and local-level governments in rural tourism development. We analyzed both secondary data sourced from government documents and primary data collected through interviews with local government employees and residents at a rural destination in China. The results indicate that the central government plays a steering role in guiding rural tourism towards desired directions, and the local government plays a serving role by directly managing tourism practices and coordinating with businesses and residents to provide services and solve problems. The synergistic interaction of the central and local governments in China stimulates the rapid development of rural tourism.

The Principle of Open and Competitive Recruitment to Official Posts in Local Government Units in Poland

This article is to present the principle of open and competitive recruitment for official positions, applicable under the Polish Act on local government employees. The point of departure for the discussion on the provisions of the Act is the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Not only has the analysis covered the regulation contained in the Act on employees of local government , but also addressed the relationship between the employer's specific obligation to re-employ the employee on the basis of the provisions of the Polish Labour Code and the rule of general recruitment for official positions applicable under the Law on local government employees. These considerations are largely of a practical nature, based in particular on the relevant case-law and on the professional experience of the author herself, who is a local government staff member employed as an attorney-at-law in a local government unit of the regional level.

Unpaid Work? Emotional Labor Assessments and Episodic Recall Bias in Public Engagement

We test individual-level job-related assessments as a function of a public employee’s induced recall of discrete citizen engagement and one’s intrinsic prosocial motivation. We are interested in whether tangible retentions of public service influence the relationship between stated, but abstract, self-concepts—such as reported prosociality. Little is known as to the impact of citizen consultation on local government employees or the outcomes that engagement might induce. We find that the relationship between self-reports of prosociality and pay satisfaction are contingent upon those concepts being decontextualized, whereas discrete recall bias appears not to affect emotional burnout. Meanwhile, when induced recall is positively valanced, it has a positive direct effect on subjects’ willingness toward future citizen engagement. In other words, subjects seem to accept the emotional labor of engagement as part of their jobs. However, contextualizing engagement may make them more cognizant of its unremunerated dimensions; and, positive reinforcement of engagement provides encouragement to further engagement.

住民との「協働」に関わる自治体職員の意識に関する探索的検討

住民との「協働」に関わる自治体職員の意識に関する探索的検討

Ethical Climate and Whistleblowing Intentions: Testing the Mediating Roles of Public Service Motivation and Psychological Safety Among Local Government Employees

Local governments in several developing countries are plagued with corruption. This study draws attention to the role of organizational ethical climate in promoting whistleblowing intentions among local government employees and asks whether public service motivation (PSM) and perceptions of psychological safety mediate this relationship. Based on survey data of 365 employees in 40 local governments in Thailand, our multilevel analysis confirms that the relationships between ethical climate and internal and external whistleblowing intentions were indirect. In particular, psychological safety was found to play a mediating role at both the individual and organizational levels of analysis, whereas the mediating role of PSM was observed only at the individual level. The findings also revealed the presence of “collective PSM” at the organizational level, which in turn helped to facilitate external whistleblowing intentions. This research unveils the importance of individual- and organization-level factors in the whistleblowing decision-making process.

Talent Management, Affective Organizational Commitment and Service Performance in Local Government.

Talent management (TM) is a fundamental issue for both private and public sector companies. This study analyzes the impact of TM on service performance (SP) and the mediating role of affective organizational commitment (AOC). We analyze a sample of 104 local government employees with three measures of TM, AOC and SP. The mediation hypothesis of AOC was also raised in the study using Baron and Kenny’s methodology and Hayes PROCESS. The results reveal how AOC is a total mediating variable in the causal relationship TM → SP. This study is cross-sectional. Common-method bias is controlled in the study. The results involves a concern for improving services through the professionals who provide them, which in turn entails managing people in a way that is different, more flexible, less bureaucratic, and more client- or citizen-oriented. Given the scant research exploring the role of talent management in public services, this article offers valuable insights for scientific literature and practitioners in the public administration.

Living Conditions of Employees of the Verkhneudinsk City Public Self-Government in 1917

Based on archival materials and regional historiography, the article describes the main aspects of the daily life of an employee of the Verkhneudinsky city public self-government in 1917. The authors examined important criteria for assessing the quality of life of local government employees during the revolutionary period: the size of the salary, the price of food and basic necessities. The study of the material security of the municipal employee allows us to note the close relationship between the collapse and the construction of a new state apparatus and the trends that are manifested in social policy in the field of remuneration of employees of city government. Based on the above data, the authors give an analysis of the monetary content of civil servants of the Verkhneudinsky city government. Particular attention is paid not only to the size of the salary of a member of the city government and its changes over time under the influence of both internal and external political factors, but also to the possibility of a comfortable existence on their salary.

Performance, Satisfaction, or Loss Aversion? A Meso–Micro Assessment of Local Commitments to Sustainability Programs

Abstract A normative assumption of government reform efforts such as New Public Management is that fostering a more innovative, proactive, and risk-taking organizational culture—developing what has been described as an “entrepreneurial orientation” (EO)—improves performance. But in arenas like urban sustainability, performance can be an ambiguous, multifaceted concept. Managers’ assessments of their own nimbleness, innovative thinking, and risk culture are also likely to influence how they interpret the risk-reward balance of opportunities to enhance organizational performance. This study examines how meso-level organizational decisions impact managers’ individual risk-assessments of sustainability initiatives. We do so through a combination of Bayesian structural equation modeling of US local government survey data collected over two time periods, and an artifactual survey experiment with empaneled local government employees. This multimethod design allows us to examine the role of organizational performance and EO—meso-level learning heuristics—in shaping the micro-foundations of managerial risk assessment. The organization-level observational results indicate that local governments engage in risk-seeking behavior in order to minimize their potential for losses of prior effort. Experimental results confirm local government administrators are loss-averse when asked to evaluate the merits of initiating a hypothetical sustainability program.

Coronavirus disease and local government

Coronavirus disease and local government