Does new public management repel talent? Findings from a choice experiment among German researchers.

This article examines how new public management (NPM) governance reforms affect academics' job preferences, based on a choice experiment with faculty from leading German technical universities. It finds that high administrative burdens and stringent third-party funding requirements significantly reduce the attractiveness of academic positions, especially for senior researchers, those with strong publication records, and interdisciplinary scholars—groups that universities strategically seek to recruit. Performance-based pay schemes showed little average effect on job choice, though interdisciplinary researchers tended to avoid such incentives. The study interprets these findings through Self Determination Theory, emphasizing that intrinsic motivation and opportunities for professional self-actualization are central to academics' career decisions, and suggests that NPM governance structures may undermine universities' ability to attract top talent by imposing managerialized constraints.