Contingent and non-contingent working in local government: contrasting psychological contracts

Coyle-Shapiro, Jacqueline A-M. ORCID: 0000-0002-7658-7878 and Kessler, Ian (2002) Contingent and non-contingent working in local government: contrasting psychological contracts. Public Administration, 80 (1). pp. 77-101. ISSN 0033-3298

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Abstract

Given that the contingent worker is likely to be a familiar presence in the public service workplace of the future, this paper explores the consequences of contingent work arrangements on the attitudes and behaviour of employees using the psychological contract as a framework for analysis. Drawing upon survey evidence from a sample of permanent, fixed term and temporary staff employed in a British local authority, our results suggest that contract status plays an important role in how individuals view the exchange relationship with their employer and how they respond to the inducements received from that relationship. Specifically, contingent employees are less committed to the organization and engage in organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to a lesser degree than their permanent counterparts. However, contrary to our hypothesis, the relationship between the inducements provided by the employer and OCB is stronger for contingent employees. Such findings have implications for the treatment of contingent and non-contingent employees in the public services.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0033-3298
Additional Information:	This is an electronic version of an Article published in Public Administration 80 (1), 77-101 © 2002 Blackwell Publishing. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com. LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (<http://eprints.lse.ac.uk>) of the LSE Research Online website.
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date Deposited:	05 Jul 2006
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 22:34
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/824

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