Organizational commitment in the public sector: review and research agenda

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to analyze the scientific production on organizational commitment in the public sector in Portuguese and English, covering a twenty one-year period (1997-2017). The focus was on empirical studies in both languages, around the world, in all continents. For this study journals of administration and psychology were considered, using data bases and papers from the ANPAD. 122 articles on organizational commitment were identified, with 3,761 citations. Analyses were performed with three foci: production during this period; article contents, with its contributions, limitations, and tendencies; and the network of citations among the countries. The results indicate that the number of studies is increasing, especially from 2010 to 2015, and a little decrease in 2016 and 2017. Also, the limited interaction of Portuguese-language production and English-language production was verified. Therefore, an agenda of research was suggested to overcome limitations.