Public Agents’ Empowerment and Rule-Breaking Behaviors: Evidence from Panel Analysis of U.S. Federal Agencies

Hyesong Ha () and Hyunkang Hur
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Hyesong Ha: Nazarbayev University in Nursultan
Hyunkang Hur: School of Business at Indiana University Kokomo

Public Organization Review, 2024, vol. 24, issue 1, No 21, 407-431

Abstract: Abstract Public agent (un)ethical behavior or ethical leadership has been a topic of interest as well as a hot debate in terms of “bounded ethicality” in complex organizations. This article extends the study of public agents’ (rule-breaking) unbureaucratic behaviors with three contributions:1) employee empowerment is used as an organizational factor affecting public agents’ rule-breaking behaviors; 2) an agency-level panel dataset comes from three different sources; 3) panel data analysis and structural equation model are applied. The results imply that policy makers and HR manager should recognize the possibility of negative unintended consequences of over-empowerment or excessive discretion practices in public organization.

Keywords: Rule-breaking Behavior; Unbureaucratic Personality; Employee Empowerment; Panel Data Analysis; Structural Equation Model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11115-023-00743-z

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