Pro-social preferences and self-selection into jobs: Evidence from South African nurses

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAlthough a growing body of economic work has looked at the role of pro-social motives to explain self-selection into public or not-for-profit sector jobs, in particular in the delivery of social services, no attention has been given to the role of pro-social preferences in the decision to take up posts in rural and isolated areas. Yet there are reasons to believe that such choices involve a degree of self-sacrifice, in particular in developing countries where rural regions typically combine geographic hostile environment, high levels of poverty, low educational opportunities, limited access to basic services and worse career opportunities. On the other hand, as shortage of qualified staff is higher in rural areas, the returns on the presence of a health worker, and the benefits to the populations, are likely to be higher. Using data from a longitudinal study of nurses in South Africa this paper tests this hypothesis by linking experimental measure of pro-social preferences and revealed preferences outcomes. Three measures of pro-social preferences are constructed based on donations made by study participants in a dictator game played at baseline. Job choices are observed three years later for more than 97% of the initial sample. We show that the more dedicated the nurses -measured by their generosity towards patients in the dictator game -the more likely they are to have chosen a rural job. This result is robust to the inclusion of various demographic controls and to different econometric specifications. This finding contributes to the literature on role of pro-social values as an intrinsic motivation factor in labour supply decisions and it has policy implications for the provision of social services in difficult settings.

Does it pay to care? Volunteering and employment opportunities

“…On the other hand, following Arrow's (1973) model of statistical discrimination, employers might use social engagement on applicants' résumés to screen and sort job seekers according to abilities that are unobserved by these employers. In this respect, social engagement is related in the peer-reviewed literature to personality traits such as emotional stability, extraversion and openness, which are shown to enhance individual productivity and team performance (Barrick and Mount, 1991;Bekkers, 2005;Besley and Ghatak, 2005;Borghans et al, 2008;Costa and McCrae, 1992;Elshaug and Metzer, 2001;Gregg et al 2011;Fortin, 2008;Heineck, 2011;Lagarde and Blaauw, 2014;OECD, 2015;Tett et al, 1991;Uysal and Pohlmeier, 2011).…”

Are public sector workers different? Cross-European evidence from elderly workers and retirees

“…Banuri and Keefer (2013), on the other hand, find evidence of positive selection into public service in Indonesia. Lastly, Lagarde and Blaauw (2013) report that nursing students in South Africa that displayed generous behavior in a dictator game with patient recipients, were more likely to then take up positions in rural areas, which are considered to be less desirable for health workers but more beneficial to the beneficiaries.…”

“…In particular, whether or not public sector workers are intrinsically motivated to carry out their job in order to serve the public interest, i.e., they have public service motivation, is important, for instance, for the design of remuneration policies (Besley and Ghatak 2005;Delfgaauw and Dur 2008;Dal Bo et al 2013) and the outsourcing of public service provision to for-profit firms (Francois 2000;Francois and Vlassopoulos 2008) 1 . The issue of selection of workers into the public sector has also recently received a lot of attention in the development literature (Dal Bo et al 2013;Hanna and Wang 2013;Banuri and Keefer 2013;Lagarde and Blaauw 2013;Ashraf et al 2014).…”

Preferences of Medical Students for Rural Medical Internships in South Africa: A Discrete Choice Experiment

“…Rural medical practice is often seen to be challenging due to social and cultural isolation, lack of infrastructure and transport, electricity, telecommunications and restricted access to goods and services (6). The South African National Department of Health's (DOH) strategies for rural doctor recruitment includes recruiting rural-origin students to be trained in Cuba on condition of fixed-term mandatory rural service and the provision of on-site housing which is both expensive and timeconsuming to maintain (7).…”