This dissertation centers on an important but understudied theme in public administration scholarship: How to capitalize actively on public employees’ work motivation and commitment to support and improve their efforts and performance at work. The dissertation draws on self-determination theory, public service motivation research, and goal setting theory, and empirically it involves a set of quantitative analyses that span a range of different research designs and data.

The dissertation contributes with extension of theory and identification of particular interventions and factors that may affect the ways in which work motivation and goal commitment reflect positively on individuals’ work behavior and performance. The dissertation is relevant for all who are interested in understanding work motivation and commitment—not least how potentially to improve the performance of public services via active efforts to capitalize on the forces of employee work motivation and commitment. 

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