Why do people choose to work in the public sector?

Molnár, György and Kapitány, Zsuzsa (2014) Why do people choose to work in the public sector? In: The Hungarian labour market, 2014. Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; National Employment Non-profit Public Company, Budapest, pp. 102-112.

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Abstract

Selection between public and private sector jobs is influenced by a variety of factors in addition to potential pay. An important objective factor is the rela - tively higher demand for highly educated employees in the public sector. The main subjective factor is greater security in the public sector in a number of ways: greater job security, more regulated working conditions, and more pre - dictable promotion opportunities. Those who value these are more likely to choose to work in the public sector even if it means lower pay. Another impor - tant subjective difference is that people are often motivated by a stronger sense of mission or social responsibility when choosing to work in the public sector. The decision can also be influenced by family circumstances. This study will identify a number of life scenarios that support this hypothesis. The ef - fect of motivations related to social responsibility will be examined through participation in voluntary work and attitudes towards income redistribution. The study will address three related questions: 1) What are the family factors which influence public sector employment? 2) Are public sector employees more likely to be involved in voluntary work? 3) Are there any special char - acteristics of public sector workers in terms of their attitude to centralised income redistribution.

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