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Within a framework of long-term research on public service motivation, this study is an empirical examination of French civil servants’ values compared to those of private sector employees as well as to those of civil servants in several other European countries. The axiological dimension plays a vital role in the perception of reforms and management tools. Findings demonstrate that French civil servants differ from their European counterparts in their egalitarianism, their quest for autonomy at work, and their refusal to allow social success to be a major criterion for assessment. Certain tools that are supposed to affect motivation, such as merit- or performance-based pay, have no effect on the degree of satisfaction at work, including in countries that have undertaken the most extensive public-management reforms. There are major variations between teachers and civil servants who are managers. In contrast, the gap with employees in the private sector is fairly narrow.