TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Friebel, Guido
AU  - Kosfeld, Michael
AU  - Thielmann, Gerd
        TI  - Trust the Police? Self-Selection of Motivated Agents into the German Police Force
        PY  - 2016/Dec/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 10410
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp10410
        AB  - We conduct experimental games with police applicants in Germany to investigate whether intrinsically motivated agents self-select into this type of public service. Our focus is on trustworthiness and the willingness to enforce norms of cooperation as key dimensions of intrinsic motivation in the police context. We find that police applicants are more trustworthy than non-applicants, i.e., they return higher shares as second-movers in a trust game. Furthermore, they invest more in rewards and punishment when they can enforce cooperation as a third party. Our results provide clear evidence for self-selection of motivated agents into the German police force, documenting an important mechanism that influences the match between jobs and agents in public service.
        KW  - self-selection
KW  - intrinsic motivation
KW  - public service
KW  - norm enforcement
KW  - trustworthiness
        ER  -