The Impact of the Financial and Economic Crisis on Turnover Intention in the U.S. Federal Government

• Published in: Public personnel management Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 565 - 585
• Main Authors: Wynen, Jan, Op de Beeck, Sophie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2014; Sage Publications, Inc; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Administrative agencies; Analysis; Company business management; Cost reduction; Decision Making; Economic aspects; Economic crisis; Employee turnover; Employers; Employment; Employment security; Environmental Influences; Federal employees; Federal government; Financial crises; Gender; Government agencies; Government Employees; Human resource management; Impact analysis; Individual Characteristics; Intention; Job Satisfaction; Job Security; Labour turnover; Layoffs; Management; Organization theory; Private sector; Public sector; Recessions; Studies; Surveys; Belgium; United States > US; turnover intention; public sector; financial and economic crisis
• ISSN: 0091-0260; 1945-7421
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026014537043

Using data from the U.S. Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, this article seeks to provide an insight into the effect of the financial and economic crisis on turnover intention within the U.S. federal government. By constructing panel data and applying a first difference estimator, the effect of the crisis on turnover intention is examined, while dealing with a possible issue of endogeneity. Not only does this approach allow us to examine the effect of the crisis, but it also enables us to analyze whether the specific effect of independent variables identified by turnover literature has changed due to the crisis. Results highlight that the crisis has a negative impact on turnover intention, while the effects of pay, training, and gender on turnover intention appear to have changed.