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This paper critically examines the application of principal agent theory to contractual hiring arrangements of employees in public sector organizations as a contemporary alternative recruitment strategy. Globally, developed and developing nations within the public sector are seeking ways where they can reduce public expenditure and debt while at the same time attempting to increase productivity and efficiency gains by using cost containment initiatives. Thus, private sector methods of outsourcing and contracting are identified as more economically feasible strategies given global recessions and other budgetary constraints within these public agencies. Hence, public management and administration scholars have alluded to the catchy phrase of "doing more with less" (see [1]). Thus, the paper from a theoretically exploratory perspective analyzes how principal agent theory can be applied to the hiring of contingent employees within this sector and the agency problems that may likely arise as a result of these arrangements and their probable economic implications for the said sector.

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Researchers in public administration for the past few decades are interested in exploring how public service motivation (PSM) influences turnover intentions. This study puts the theory of PSM to test in a different cultural context and explores the relationship between PSM and leadership on turnover intentions via person-organization fit (P-O fit) in public sector employees from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. Results of structural equation modeling indicate a significant negative relationship between senior leadership and turnover intentions, but a positive and significant relationship between PSM and turnover intentions. The positive effects of PSM on turnover are different from the Western models of motivation in the public sector. Results also show a partial mediation of PSM and turnover intentions via P-O fit. This research highlights the need for studying leadership, motivation, and turnover by utilizing a cultural and value lens to examine and understand employee behaviors in public organizations outside of North America.

Globally, governments are attempting to transform their societies with the widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Public agencies consider ICTs as powerful tools to deliver services to citizens and encourage engagement. Debate surrounds issues of e-government and how it can be used to transform service delivery and engagement to citizens. For developing countries research indicates that most of these attempts can be explained as e-government versus e-governance. This article examines initiatives by the Housing Development Corporation in Trinidad and Tobago to provide service delivery to citizens and encourage their participation through electronic means. It also evaluates the effects of the agency's initiatives to citizens and its ability to interact with them. Using content analysis of the agency's website and survey interviews, the study examines four categories taken from two research questions and suggests the extent to which these efforts signal the development of e-government practices by this agency.