All around the world, public organizations have faced strong pressures to improve performance and generally “do more with less,” particularly following the global slowdown of 2008. This article examines the effects of organizational emphasis on efficiency in local government using data from a large survey of civil servants in South Korea. Findings from a fixed effects analysis indicate that higher levels of efficiency emphasis are related to stronger employee turnover intention. However, a number of moderating factors are also uncovered, suggesting that individual levels of public service motivation as well as perceived procedural justice and innovation climate can influence this relationship, lessening the impact of efficiency emphasis on turnover intention. These individual and organizational level factors may thus act as a buffer for increased performance demands. A number of implications for public management are discussed.

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Individuals with high levels of Public Service Motivation (PSM) are assumed to be a good fit for public organizations due to their commitment to service-orientated values. However, public organizations vary in terms of performance, leadership, and other qualities, and some organizations may be a better fit for PSM-driven employees than others. This study examines whether organizational characteristics influence the relationship between PSM and affective organizational commitment. The findings indicate that perception of organizational performance and transformational leadership strengthen the relationship between PSM and commitment. On the other hand, climate for innovation is shown to have a strong direct influence on organizational commitment for all employees regardless of their PSM level. A number of theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

PurposeCitizen trust in police is important in terms of citizen consent to government policies and of police achieving their organizational goals. In the previous study, improvements in police policy, organizational operation and policing activities were developed to clarify which factors influence trust in police and how trust can be improved. This research raises the question, would changes in trust in police have an impact on trust in government? In this paper, this research question is discussed theoretically and the causal relationship analyzed empirically by applying OLS, ordered logistic, 2SLS and logistic regressions.Design/methodology/approachThe basic analysis methods are to apply the OLS and the ordered logistic regression. OLS regression analysis is an analytical method that minimizes an error range of a regression line. The assumptions for OLS are: linearity, independence, equilibrium, extrapolation and multicollinearity issues. These problems were statistically verified and analyzed, in order to confirm the robustness of the analysis results by comparing the results of the ordered logistic regression because of the sequence characteristic of the dependent variable. The data to be used in this study is the Asia Barometer Survey in 2013.FindingsTrust in police and citizen perception of safety are analyzed as important factors to increase trust in the government. The effects of trust in police are more significant than the effects of control variables, and the direction and strength of the results are stable. The effect of trust in police on trust in government is strengthened by the perception of safety (IV). In addition, OLS, ordered logistic regression analysis, which analyzed trust in central government and local government, and logistic regression analysis categorized by trust and distrust show the stability.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has implications in terms of theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between trust in police and trust in government. In addition, the impact of perception of safety on trust in police can be provided to police officers, policymakers and governors who are seeking to increase trust in government. This paper is also meaningful in that it is the microscopic research based on the citizens' survey. One of the limitations of macroscopic research is that it does not consider the individual perceptions of citizens.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper can confirm the relationship of the virtuous cycle, which is perception of safety – trust in police – trust in government. The police will need to provide security services to improve citizens' perception of safety and make great efforts to create safer communities and society. Trust in police formed through this process can be an important component of trust in government. By making citizens feel safer and achieving trust in police, ultimately, trust in government will be improved.Originality/valueThe police perform one of the essential roles of government and are one of the major components of trust in government, but the police sector has been neglected compared to the roles of the economic and political sectors. These influences of macro factors are too abstract to allow specific policy directions to be suggested. If we consider trust in police, and factors that can improve trust in government, we can suggest practical policy alternatives.