Are public and private employees different? And is this difference due to the fact that different people are attracted to work for government rather than companies? It has been proposed that individuals with certain characteristics, such as having high levels of risk aversion or public service motivation (PSM), are more likely to self-select into public service. This study argues that this sector attraction effect depends on the amount of job-related information available to job seekers at different stages of the job search process. We test our hypotheses using a three-stage conjoint experimental design. The employment sector only matters to job seekers when little direct information is provided. Once more job-related information is available to them, it diminishes. This effect is especially strong for people with high levels of PSM. These findings suggest that the sector attraction effect is situational, which has important implications for theory and practice of public sector attraction.

中文翻译：

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行业吸引力和工作信息的作用：联合实验的证据

公共雇员和私人雇员有什么不同吗？这种差异是因为不同的人被吸引到政府工作而不是公司工作吗？有人提出，具有某些特征的个人，例如具有高水平的风险厌恶或公共服务动机（PSM），更有可能自我选择进入公共服务。本研究认为，这种行业吸引力效应取决于求职者在求职过程的不同阶段可获得的与工作相关的信息量。我们使用三阶段联合实验设计来测试我们的假设。只有在提供很少的直接信息时，就业部门才会对求职者产生影响。一旦他们获得更多与工作相关的信息，这种信息就会减少。对于 PSM 水平高的人来说，这种影响尤其强烈。这些发现表明，部门吸引力效应是情境性的，这对公共部门吸引力的理论和实践具有重要意义。