Exploring the Determinants of Job Satisfaction of Civil Servants in Beijing, China

Chinese civil servants work in institutional and cultural contexts that are very different from those of their Western counterparts. Very little research has been done to study their job satisfaction. This paper attempts to fill the gap by analyzing data from a survey of 800 civil servants in Beijing. Fifteen independent variables are clustered into three categories: job characteristics, organizational-environmental factors, and personal characteristics. Ordinary least squares regression is used to analyze the relationship between job satisfaction and independent variables. Results show that all six job characteristics such as task variety and salary exert statistically significant influences over the dependent variable; two organizational-environmental factors, work environment safety and relations with coworkers, are also statistically significant in the model. Personal characteristics such as gender exert nominal effects. Implications for practice and further research are also discussed based on the results of regression analysis.