The Impact of Entrepreneurial Leadership and Ethical Climate on Public Service Motivation in Korea and China: Moderating Role of Confucian Values

Abstract

Public administration has recently seen paradigm shifts to integrate and enhance public value. Regardless of the focus on innovation and organizational performance in government, the public sector must foster public values. Although studies to identify important determinants of public service motivation (PSM) have been conducted, there has been little scholarly inquiry into the influence of leadership, organizational climate, and Confucian values on public management. Employing the theoretical lenses of social learning and social identity theories, this study examines the influences of entrepreneurial leadership, an ethical climate, and Confucian values on PSM. A total of 1215 Korean and 552 Chinese public employees were surveyed to test direct and moderating effects through multivariate regression, showing that entrepreneurial leadership (EL) has positive effects on societally driven PSM in both countries, but its effects on policymaking-oriented PSM depends on the country. An ethical climate is positively associated with policymaking-oriented PSM in Korea, but with societally driven PSM in China. Confucian values positively influence PSM in both countries except for societally driven PSM in Korea. Contrary to our hypotheses, a moderating role of Confucian values does not hold in either country. The article outlines the theoretical and practical implications of this study and directions for future research.