Transformations  in
Business & Economics

CAN ROLE-BASED PUBLIC LEADERSHIP PROMOTE SUBORDINATE TAKING CHARGE? THE ROLE OF POLITICAL SKILLS AND PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION⁷
Weichen Shen, Chunyan Xu, Xinyue Feng, Sihan Zhang

ABSTRACT: This paper focused on role-based public leadership’s impact and internal mechanism on subordinate taking charge behavior (TCB). The explanatory model of rationality and value dual paths was proposed and verified through hierarchical regression and bootstrap tests, with the data from a questionnaire survey to the Bureau of Commerce. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Public service motivation is a mediating variable between public leadership and TCB; (2) political skills have a double-edged sword effect. Political skills positively moderate the impact of public leadership on TCB. Meanwhile, it negatively moderates the effects of public leadership on public service motivation and the effects of public service motivation on TCB; (3) under the high political skill level of subordinates, public leadership has a direct impact on the TCB, while under the low political skill level of subordinates, the direct effect of public leadership on the TCB is insignificant.

KEYWORDS:  public leadership, public service motivation, taking charge behavior, political skill.

JEL classification:  M12, M50, O15.

⁷Acknowledgments:  This research was supported by the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project of the Ministry of Education (No.22YJC630115; 18YJC710079)， the Hubei Innovation Research Center of Rural Social Management Open Fund Bidding Project (No.HNC2021001), and Doctoral Research Startup Fund Project（No.XJ2021009901).