Behavior and performance of street-level bureaucrats: a study at the Federal Highway Police

Abstract

The literature on Street-Level Bureaucracy (SLB) points to several behavioral motivators that influence their performance, such as Discretion, Self-interest, Norms, and Public Interest. Although these aspects occur simultaneously, there are no studies on which behavioral motivators are decisive for the performance of SLB. This research aims to analyze the influence of the interaction of different behavioral motivators of the SLB in their performance in implementing public policies. To achieve the proposed objective, a structured questionnaire was applied to 10,014 Federal Highway Police officers active during the research period, with 426 respondents. Data were analyzed using structural equation analysis. The results showed that Discretion, Norms, and Public Interest were positively associated with Operating Performance. For Institutional Performance, only the Norms and Public Interest dimensions were positively associated. The results indicate that the relevance of the different behavioral motivators of the SLB varies according to the performance variable observed and reiterate the asymmetry of perceptions between the different organizational levels.