Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0


Author-Name: Daniele Checchi
Author-X-Name-First: Daniele
Author-X-Name-Last: Checchi


Author-Name: Alessandra Fenizia
Author-X-Name-First: Alessandra
Author-X-Name-Last: Fenizia

Author-Name: Claudio Lucifora
Author-X-Name-First: Claudio
Author-X-Name-Last: Lucifora
Author-Email: claudio.lucifora@unicatt.it
Author-Workplace-Name: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Author-Workplace-Name: Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore


Title: PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS: Working in the public sector in Europe and the US.


Abstract: This paper reviews recent theoretical and empirical work on public employment management and
presents novel stylized facts on public sector jobs. In the first part, we examine the evolution of
managerial practices in the public sector and discuss the contractual arrangement of public sector
workers and the labor market institutions that are prevalent in this setting. We argue that, for public
sector employees, standard incentive schemes have a low power and are generally less effective
than in the private sector. In the second part, we use two international surveys (6th European
Working Conditions Survey, covering 28 European countries, and 2nd American Working
Conditions Survey for the United States) to investigate selection into public sector employment,
public-private pay differentials, and differences in working conditions in Europe and the US.
While in Europe the public-private earning gap is positive for low-skilled workers and turns
negative for skilled individuals, the gap is negative and relatively flat over the skill distribution in
the US. We also document a positive public-private earnings differential in healthcare and
education services in Europe, and a negative differential, though not statistically significant, in the
US. We find that, in the US, two out of three public sector employees are exposed to some
performance-related pay scheme, while in Europe is less than one in four. We do not find evidence
that the public sector ensures a fairer work environment, as instances of harassment,
discrimination, and obnoxious behavior are widespread. 
Length: 38
Creation-Date: 2021-06
File-URL: http://dipartimenti.unicatt.it/economia-finanza-def107.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: First version, 2021
Number: def107
Classification-JEL: J45, J31, H50. 
Keywords: Public sector, managerial practices, public-private pay differentials, working conditions.
Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie1:def107