Performance Rewards and Job Satisfaction in More and Less Developed Countries: Multi-Level Evidence From Bureaucrats in 10 Countries

Abstract

Do the same management practices lead to greater job satisfaction in poorer and richer countries? Despite the centrality of this question, prior research has not statistically assessed it through multi-country studies. We address this omission for one quintessential OECD country management reform: linking rewards—pay and promotion—to performance. We argue that performance rewards matter more for job satisfaction in richer than in poorer countries—for instance, because of fewer concerns with pay variability and fewer value clashes between cultural expectations and performance reward systems. In multi-level analyses of an original survey of 19,300 bureaucrats in 10 countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we find that the association between performance rewards and job satisfaction significantly increases with country GDP per capita. Our findings underscore the potential limits of management practices inspired by evidence in OECD states for job satisfaction in developing country governments.