The Role of Good Governance in the Performance of a Public Entity (The Case of ARDA)

Abstract

This study aims to provide an overview of central governance in Albania, focusing on farmers' opinion and satisfaction with activity of Agriculture Rural Development Agency (ARDA) in Albania, which is financed by public and EU funds either for financing or credit guarantying the Albanian Farmers. Thus, what is the farmers’ perception for ARDA activity and what would the subsidized farmers like to change or improve on governmental agency service delivery? This is followed by the well-known assumption that citizens rely on personal experiences when they create their own views, which are closely related to their knowledge and understanding of central government performance as a starting point for good governance, and in some cases, they can make central authorities liable for issues that are not under their direct control. For this reason, the main purpose of this research is to evaluate main stakeholders’ perception such as: the employees and high-level officials of ARDA, as service providers, and farmers or entrepreneurs in five districts of Albania as: Tirana, Berat, Fier, Elbasan and Durrës (randomly selected), as beneficiaries of these services. In this context, it is also interesting to find a correlation between their perceptions on performance of public services delivered, in order to increase performance and real welfare. The measurement of the perception of satisfaction was finalized by combining quantitative and qualitative research techniques. The combination of these methods has been used to derive the necessary results and to understand the essential role of good governance in the performance of the public entities in Albania. The results of this study highlight the most prominent problems of ARDA as well as the perception that subsidized farmers, in the above-mentioned districts, have for their opportunities, role and influence on important issues such as transparency, accountability, rule of law and citizen participation. According to the farmers' perception, all the performance indicators of ARDA that have been analyzed in this study are not at the expected level. Therefore, it is concluded that ARDA needs further performance improvement, in order to provide a quality service. Consequently, the understanding of farmers’ perception on central governance, whether true or perceived, is an important part of improving effectiveness and efficiency, providing services and improving accountability of central administration.