In this essay I make two related points about public service motivation. First, despite advances in public service motivation measurement at the level of individuals, little is known about the channels by which organizations develop a workforce comprised of people with high levels of PSM. I discuss recent political science scholarship suggesting that this development is endogenous to both personnel policies and the political position of bureaucratic agencies. Second, I contend that PSM in a workforce is useful at an organizational level primarily because it helps in mitigating or “solving” specific principal–agent problems, though it can also intensify others.
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