Public Jobs Research Articles

Parties as efficiency-improving gatekeepers in rent-seeking societies

Anti-corruption laws forbid selling public job nominations. Even if bribing is ruled out, those interested in the nominations may invest in good relationships with the nominators. This provides a legal way to influence the decision. Such networking is costly, however. Thus, rent-seeking results in excessive networking. We present a simple model featuring such effects and show that efficiency may be improved if political parties interfere with the nominations. Political parties may reduce wasteful networking, thanks to exclusive membership contracts. Parties can require that politicians belonging to the party promote the nomination of other party members, thus, reducing incentives to cultivate inter-party connections.

Public values on the public/private boundary: the case of civil servant recruitment examinations in China

This article looks at public values as an alternative public management instrument to the traditional public instruments or those of New Public Management (NPM). China offers very explicit examples of public values deliberately built on the boundary between the public and the private. We examine this issue through the civil servant recruitment examinations in China and the point of view of the candidates. We propose a cultural approach to the ‘publicness’ of these examinations to understand the public/private articulation of the values they convey and their roles in the field of public management in China. We highlight a set of spiritual and moral values from the private sphere that are transmitted in the public values through the civil servant recruitment examinations, often to legitimize the government and its social control. Points for practitioners In this article we consider public management instruments in China that are often relatively unknown or considered archaic. Their uses offer original examples of instruments that are embedded in Chinese society that open out the spectrum of public values towards private values, mainly spiritual and moral. We wish to make an empirical contribution to the debate on the role of public values in public management. We investigate the civil servant recruitment examinations in China through their content and the values they transmit. Candidates for the examinations explain to us the values that guide their preparation for public jobs and we analyse their role in Chinese public management.

Labor Market Flexibility and Different Job-Matching Technologies Across Regions in India: An Analysis of State-Level Disaggregate Matching Functions

This paper examines the relationship between labor market flexibility and matching function efficiency in India. With state-level disaggregated data, the matching function in India is estimated to investigate differences in the matching function efficiency across regions of different labor market flexibility. In addition, matching parameters are estimated in the respective regions that categorized by the degree of labor market flexibility. It is the first original work that uses state-level data to estimate matching function in India. The data are drawn from Employment Exchange in India, the only public job centre in this country. The results show that there is no link between labor market flexibility and matching function efficiency. The evidence indicates that regions having inflexible labor markets reveal entirely vacancy-driven job matching process, which implies lack of labor demand. For these regions, it is recommended that policies to boost labor demand such as employment subsidies are appropriate to create more employment.

Interethnic Competition for Classroom Teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Administrator Jobs in Multiethnic U.S. School Districts, 2002-2008

Previous research on interethnic competition has not examined public school jobs across the United States. We use U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data to answer two research questions. What are the levels of under- and over-representation in various public school jobs among African Americans, Latinos, and White non-Latinos? And, is there interethnic competition for these positions? Answers to these questions have implications for resource distribution and the future of representational equity. Based on analysis of 267 multiethnic U.S. school districts for 2002 and 2008, we find that Latinos are underrepresented in all four job categories and that non-Latino Whites are overrepresented or achieve near-parity in all four categories. On average, Blacks are overrepresented among assistant principals and principals but underrepresented among classroom teachers and administrators. Competition between minorities and non-minorities is more prevalent than competition between Blacks and Latinos. Among districts in which we find competition between Blacks and Latinos, competition does not heavily favor one group over the other for assistant principal, principal, and administrator positions; however, among classroom teachers, districts with Latino gains and Black losses outnumber those with Black gains and Latino losses by greater than 2 to 1. In low Latino growth districts, Latinos outpace Blacks in competition for teacher positions, but in high Latino growth districts, Blacks outpace Latinos for administrator positions.

La transizione verso il mercato del lavoro dipendente dei disoccupati iscritti ai Centri Servizi per il Lavoro in Sardegna

In this paper we analyze the entry of unemployed people registered at the Public Job Services (CSL) into the labor market. Referring to the registered unemployment to the CSL during 2008 , approximately 60,000 people declared to be willing to work. After one year it is verified that 30.4% of them were able to get out of administrative unemployment, 29.6% found a job which is not significant enough to get out of the unemployment status, and finally the remaining 40 % had never worked. These numbers are very interesting since they come from an administrative source and can be used to periodically and geographically monitor the dynamics of the labor market and to approach the evaluation problem along the effectiveness dimension. In order to understand if and how the activity of each individual can be considered effective by CSL in consideration of local contexts in which they operate, on-line data storage and information processing procedures are adopted. Such procedures ensure that the same data can be correctly used for statistical purposes as they are standardized and replicable procedures which allow extreme time and cost savings.

Immigration, Occupational Choice and Public Employment

This paper investigates the theoretical effects of immigration in an occupational choice model with three sectors: a low-skilled, a high-skilled and a public sector. The originality of our approach is to consider (i) intersectoral mobility of labor and (ii) public employment. We highlight the fact that including a public sector is crucial, since omitting it implies that low-skilled immigration unambiguously reduces wages and welfare of all workers. However, when public employment is considered, we demonstrate that immigration increases wages in the high-skilled and the public sectors, provided that the immigrant workforce is not too large and the access to public jobs is not too easy. The average wage of natives may also increase accordingly. Moreover, immigration may improve workers’ welfare in each sector. Finally, the mechanism underlying these results does not require complementarity between natives and immigrants.

What Exactly Do You Do Here? Marketing-Related Jobs in Public and Academic Libraries

ABSTRACTThis study analyzes the presence of marketing-related job duties in public and academic library job listings and the experience required for these positions in order to better understand how libraries currently embrace marketing. A content analysis was performed on job listings from the American Library Association (ALA) JobLIST. The findings revealed 37% of job listings included marketing-related content, while only 11% of those listings also included stated experience or training in the marketing field. The findings will be of interest to library administrators looking to improve marketing strategies within their library without compromising the productivity of other library activities.

Occupational Characteristics and the Obesity Wage Penalty

This paper demonstrates that obese women are more likely to work in jobs that emphasize physical activity, but they are less likely to work in jobs that emphasize public interaction. The same patterns in occupational characteristics do not exist for obese men. In light of prior literature finding an unexplained wage gap between obese women and non-obese women, these results are particularly relevant since physical activity jobs pay relatively less on average, while public interaction jobs pay relatively more. Moreover, the few obese women who work in public interaction occupations receive lower wages than non-obese women, and their wage penalty offsets the general premium to working in a job emphasizing public interaction. Together, these results suggest that taste-based discrimination may be driving occupational sorting among obese women and, as a result, is at least one source of the wage penalty experienced by obese women.

Revisiting the Public Job Security: Thirty Years of Research and an Agenda for the Future

This paper seeks to develop a research agenda for future public job security research. We begin by clarifying the meaning of the job security concept and specifying its content domain based on Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt’s (1984) study. We review subsequent job security research with origins in labor and employment relations, organizational behavior, and human resource management across sectors and synthesized a model of job security associated with the empirical phenomenon based on review studies. This process resulted in three agenda for future public job security research: (1) building a clear causal linkage between (objective) job security and (subjective) job insecurity, and individual outcomes; (2) developing a relationship between a job security rules and motivation of civil servants, and motivational consequences of job security rules; and (3) conducting experiments about relationships between deinstitutionalization of job security and outcomes.

Musical Chairs: A 28-Year Study of the Supply and Demand of Orchestra Musicians in America

The recent turmoil and work stoppages in symphony orchestras throughout the United States have called into doubt not only the stability of these organizations, but also the future of the orchestral workforce. In the past, winning a job in an orchestra was considered by many musicians was the definition of a successful career. There are now hundreds of applicants auditioning for every posted orchestral opening, demonstrating a saturation of supply, i.e. musicians. An analysis of students who pursue a music-focused education reveals that graduates with performance degrees in music have been increasing in number over the past 28 years, and are entering a marketplace with a decreasing number of job opportunities. This imbalance of musicians to orchestral jobs has been growing nearly three decades. This report details the data comparison in aggregate, by orchestra group (categorized by budget size) and by instrument family. There are three main conclusions: There is no point of equilibrium, enrollment and graduation rates reversed direction in the mid-1980s and graduate school enrollment is being fueled by instrument-focused performance majors. The supply data is drawn from enrollment and graduation figures compiled by the National Association of Schools of Music for all music-degree granting institutions in United States. The demand data was compiled from the public job listings posted through the American Federation of Musicians for 61 orchestras. This research increases the industry’s understanding of the orchestral job market and contributes to the growing conversation about including classes on entrepreneurship as a component of a postsecondary education focused on music.

Book Review: Public Jobs and Political Agendas: The Public Sector in an Era of Economic Stress, edited by Daniel J. B. Mitchell

Book Review: <i>Public Jobs and Political Agendas: The Public Sector in an Era of Economic Stress</i>, edited by Daniel J. B. Mitchell

Census taking and inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia

A census is not only a public policy tool to classify and enumerate the population but also to construct social reality. Establishing a particular vision of social reality during census taking is important because public resources are granted and denied to ethnic groups depending on their numbers. In principle, the bigger the number of an ethnic community, the bigger share of public resources and jobs its political representatives can claim. The Macedonian census conflict is directly related to ethnic rivalry for public resources. Since the Macedonian economy is weak and there is a high unemployment rate, public administration jobs are coveted assets. The failed 2011 census reveals that the ethnic Albanian and Macedonian elites had fears that their kin had declined in absolute numbers, and in relation to the other ethnic group, and that this decline could lead to potential loss of their political influence and power. The principle of ‘equitable and just representation of non-majority communities’, enshrined in the public policies of the country since 2002, has direct implication on census taking in Macedonia. The paper argues that reforming the affirmative action policies to focus on economically disadvantaged instead of ethnic groups would be a good first step to eliminate some of the tensions in conducting a census in Macedonia.

The Political Economy of Public Employee Absence: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan

In many developing countries, public sector absence is both common and resistant to reform. One explanation for this is that politicians provide public jobs with limited work requirements as patronage. We test this patronage hypothesis in Pakistan using: (i) a randomized controlled evaluation of a novel smartphone absence monitoring technology; (ii) data on election outcomes in the 240 constituencies where the experiment took place; (iii) attendance recorded during unannounced visits and; (iv) surveys of connections between local politicians and health staff. Four results support this view. First, while doctors are present at 42 percent of clinics in competitive constituencies, they are present at only 13 percent of clinics in uncompetitive constituencies. Second, doctors who know their local parliamentarian personally are present at an average of 0.727 of three unannounced visits, while doctors without this connection are present at 1.3 of the three visits. Third, the effect of the smartphone monitoring technology, which almost doubled inspection rates, is highly localized to competitive constituencies. Last, we find evidence that program impact is in part due to the transmission of information to senior officers. We test this by manipulating the salience of staff absence in data presented to officials using an online dashboard. These effects are also largest in politically competitive constituencies. Our results have implications for the study of bureaucratic incentives in fragile states and are potentially actionable for policymakers trying to build state capacity.

Councils give top public health jobs to people without specialty training

Three councils in the north of England have appointed individuals with no training in public health to lead their new public health directorates, a move the Faculty of Public Health says will undermine the recruitment and retention of public health doctors. Lancashire County Council has appointed an individual with a background in social care to head up its new combined directorate of public health and adult services. Telford and Wrekin Council and Bolton Council have also appointed people without public health training to take charge of joint public health and social services departments. The faculty branded the appointments a “disaster,” and warned that such moves would …

Public jobs and political agendas: the public sector in an era of economic stress

In many ways the public sector and the private sector share concerns about how best to manage their employment functions: recruitment, evaluation, incentives, discipline, retention, compensation. There are also substantial differences between the two sectors. Not surprisingly, a period such as the Great Recession and its aftermath highlights those differences. Some state and local governments that had engaged in precarious fiscal practices were thrust into public attention as their tax revenues receded. But that is not the whole story. The reasons public sector workers and human resource practices are under scrutiny go beyond the impact of a recession putting the spotlight on already-strained budgets. Public Jobs and Political Agendas spotlights the important public/private differences that account for the special attention visited upon the public sector starting with the Great Recession. The first of these differences was the timing of the response to the recession and its aftermath on revenues. The second difference involves employee compensation and the contrasts between public and private practices in that area. Intertwined with these two factors is the role of politics: social welfare programs have been targeted in recent years, with repercussions for even the most efficient state and local government agencies and their employees. Contributors: Keith A. Bender, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Ilana Boivie, National Institute on Retirement Security; Ellen Dannin, Pennsylvania State University; Gloria Davis-Cooper, University of West Indies; Sabina Dewan, Center for American Progress; John S. Heywood, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; David Lewin, UCLA Anderson School of Management; Daniel J.B. Mitchell, UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs; Charlene M. L. Roach, The University of The West Indies; William M. Rodgers III, Rutgers University; Mildred E. Warner, Cornell University; Christian Weller, University of Massachusetts Boston and Center for American Progress

An Empirical Study on Public Service Motivation of the Next Generation Civil Servants in China

Why do the Chinese university students choose government jobs instead of private companies? Do they have similar job motivations as those who are seeking private sector jobs? Surprisingly, literature on public administration in China has rarely posed this question despite China’s adoption of the civil service system since 1993. Specific examination of public service motivation (PSM) literature also revealed a lack of empirical studies on the public service spirit of potential public sector employees. This article analyzes the differences in job motivations between public and private job seekers using survey data of 329 Chinese university students from the Peking University, Renmin University, Fudan University, and Nankai University. The results suggest that both private and public job seekers commonly rank “stable and promising future,” “high salary,” “chance to exercise leadership,” and “high prestige and social status” as the most important motivators. Notwithstanding the commonality, public job seekers, especially female students, show higher public service spirit than private job seekers.

Public Service Motivation, User Orientation, and Job Satisfaction: A Question of Employment Sector?

ABSTRACT Public service motivation (PSM) has been shown to be positively related to job satisfaction in the public sector, but there are two gaps in the literature. First, not only PSM but also pro-social motivation directed towards helping specific others (called user orientation) may affect job satisfaction. Second, the relationship between job satisfaction and these two types of pro-social motivation, PSM and user orientation, may also be found in the private sector. This study tests whether job satisfaction is associated with PSM and user orientation, and whether these associations differ between public and private employees. Using data from a survey of Danish employees (n = 2,811), we generally find positive relationships between the two types of pro-social motivation and job satisfaction, but the strength of the associations vary between occupations. The PSM–job satisfaction association does not differ significantly between the private and public sector, while the user orientation–job satisfaction association is strongest for private employees. This suggests that to understand the relationships between pro-social motivation, employment sector, and job satisfaction, future studies could fruitfully consider incorporating other types of pro-social motivation such as user orientation.

Créer des emplois publics crée-t-il des emplois ?

Cet article analyse l’impact de la creation d’emplois publics sur l’emploi prive et le chomage. Adoptant une approche macroeconomique, la premiere partie s’interesse principalement aux effets d’eviction de la creation d’emplois publics sur la creation d’emplois prives. Une etude statistique menee sur 17 pays de l’OCDE sur la periode 1960-2000 montre que cet effet d’eviction est significatif et de grande ampleur : a chaque fois que l’Etat decide de creer 10 emplois publics il en resulte directement ou indirectement une perte de 15 emplois prives. Il est aussi montre que l’impact de la creation d’emplois publics depend crucialement du type d’emplois publics crees. Deux caracteristiques jouent un role preponderant : le degre de substitution entre la production du secteur public et celle du secteur prive, et l’ampleur des avantages dont beneficient les titulaires d’emplois publics. Dans une perspective plus microeconomique, la seconde partie dresse un bilan des etudes qui analysent les politiques dites de « contrats aides ». Les conclusions rejoignent celles de l’analyse macroeconomique a savoir que la nature des emplois crees est essentielle : les contrats aides dans le secteur marchand sont souvent un tremplin vers l’emploi stable, notamment pour les jeunes et les moins qualifies. En revanche, les contrats aides du secteur non marchand n’ont pas d’efficacite averee en termes de retour vers un emploi stable.

Is a Temporary Job Better than Unemployment? A Cross-Country Comparison Based on British, German, and Swiss Panel Data

While many previous studies on temporary work have found disadvantages for temporary workers as compared to workers with a permanent contract, this study compares temporary work to the alternative of unemployment. Specifically, this paper investigates the potential integrative power of taking up a temporary job for unemployed workers as compared to the counterfactual situation of remaining unemployed and searching for another job. Applying a dynamic propensity-score matching approach based on British, (West and East) German, and Swiss panel data during the period of 1991–2009, it is shown that taking up a temporary job increases the employment chances during the subsequent five years in (West and East) Germany and the UK. Moreover, the chances of having a permanent contract remain higher and a persistent wage premium can be found during the subsequent five years of the career. Advantages of taking up a temporary job are slightly stronger in West Germany compared to East Germany, where temporary contracts are often based on public job creation measures with limited integration potential. Neither long-run advantages nor disadvantages of taking up a temporary job can be found in the case of the flexible Swiss labour market.

The Contours of Party Patronage in Argentina

Studies on the Argentine public administration have usually underlined the weakness of Argentine state bureaucracies. On the basis of these assertions, scholars have tended to equate the number of state jobs with cases of patronage. By doing so, they have neglected the crucial issue of the scope of appointments effectively controlled by political parties. This article applies an innovative empirical inquiry to measure the extent of party patronage, assessing where, how deeply, and to what extent parties reach into the Argentine federal state structures. While the results by and large confirm the widespread notion of the broad scope of political appointments in Argentina, they refute the conventional hypothesis of a state thoroughly colonized by parties. Overall, the results suggest that parties’ distribution of public jobs in the Argentine federal state is oriented less to mass-style patronage than to gaining effective and broad control over state institutions.