‘It’s a match!’: a discrete choice experiment on job attractiveness for public service jobs

Abstract

What makes public service jobs attractive to citizens? We address this question by studying several attributes simultaneously, categorizing the signals sent by each attribute as instrumental or symbolic, and clarifying the role of PSM. Using a conjoint experiment on a sample of citizens in Catalonia (Spain), the results show that citizens prefer stable, well-paid and public sector jobs in organizations pursuing public values. The influence of public values, a symbolic attribute, strengthens as PSM increases, but citizens with high PSM are equally responsive to the appeal of other attributes. The discussion addresses the findings and provides directions for future research.