Efficiency Of Public Expenditure Research Articles

Efikasnost javnih rashoda i privredni rast u zemljama Zapadnog Balkana

The countries of the Western Balkans are facing a number of challenges. One of the most acute ones, certainly, is improving the efficiency of public expenditure. Having this in mind, the main research objective of the paper is to present the interdependence between public expenditure and economic growth in the Western Balkans. In addition, the analysis is focused on the efficiency of public expenditure in the group of the above-stated countries, as well as the relationship between the size of public expenditure and its efficiency in these countries. Data from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum were used for the analysis. The results reveal that this interdependence in the countries of the Western Balkans, in addition to different intensity, has a different direction.

Fiscal Transparency and Public Service Quality Association: Evidence from 12 Coastal Provinces and Cities of China

This paper presents an evaluation index system of public service quality, which contains 35 indexes from the dimensions of the output and effect. Based on data from 2010 to 2017 in 12 coastal provinces and cities of China, this paper assesses public service quality by using the methods of entropy weight order preference similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) and analyzes the effect of fiscal transparency on public service quality. The results show that the public service quality in the 12 coastal provinces and cities of China studied is relatively high, and fiscal transparency has a positive effect on public service quality. This analysis showed that an increase of 1% in fiscal transparency would lead to an increase of 0.0323% in the quality of public services. Fiscal transparency contributes to the quality of public services by improving the scale of investment and the efficiency of public services expenditure; this is because fiscal transparency can increase the expenditure on public welfare services and curb official corruption. Furthermore, the proposed evaluation index can enable government administrators to take the necessary steps on the appropriate dimensions to improve public service quality. This study can provide some guidelines for other countries, especially to improve public service quality by increasing fiscal transparency.

The efficiency of public expenditure on Higher Education: a study with Brazilian Federal Universities

Abstract This study aims to describe the determining factors in efficiency of public expenditures in Brazilian Federal Universities. A two-stage survey method was applied for a sample of fifty-nine Brazilian Federal Universities, from 2013 to 2017. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied for the first stage in order to measure the efficiency of public expenditures. For the second stage, a truncated regression model was applied, with a double bootstrap procedure for bias correction and statistical significance test of the variables. Results show that some Brazilian Federal Universities were inefficient during this period. Considering the truncated regression model of Simar and Wilson (2007), significant variables that influence the efficiency of public expenditures in federal universities were: public expenditures in Higher Education, number of professors, amount of enrolments, amount of graduates, total expenditures with employees and total amount of employees. Therefore, this study has contributed to scientific literature showing that these variables play a key role to public efficiency in federal universities.

Propostas do Banco mundial para reformas do setor saúde no Brasil em 2017

Esse ensaio tem como objetivo analisar as recomendações para o setor saúde publicadas pelo Grupo Banco Mundial (BM) no documento ‘Um Ajuste Justo: análise da eficiência e equidade do gasto público no Brasil’, em novembro de 2017. O tema apresenta um recorte temporal atual e relevante para o debate no que tange às possíveis implicações para o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Apresenta-se uma breve contextualização sobre globalização e a influência das instituições de financiamento internacional no capitalismo periférico. Buscou-se situar os estudos que analisaram as propostas do BM ao setor saúde brasileiro para entender a direção das recomendações. A análise do último Relatório denota que a instituição manteve a linha orientada pelos pressupostos neoliberais pró-mercado que converte a saúde em bem de consumo e defende que é possível produzir mais com os mesmos custos em uma gestão e provisão mais eficientes com maior participação do setor privado. No entanto, o documento não aprofunda o debate sobre os convênios do SUS com hospitais privados, tampouco apresenta indicadores de eficiência, além de desconsiderar as heterogeneidades regionais brasileiras. Outra perspectiva mantida pelo BM foi a recomendação de limitar a responsabilidade do Estado como regulador, além de reiterar a necessidade de integração entre sistemas. Por último, refere que a desoneração fiscal das despesas realizadas com gastos privados de saúde aumenta as iniquidades em saúde, pois as isenções tributárias são menos progressivas, aspecto não destacado nos Relatórios anteriores.

Measuring and Assessing the Wealth Influence on the Efficiency of the Health System through the Private Sector

The aim of the paper is to provide an analysis of the dynamics of the public and private health sectors in Romania. Using descriptive statistics, it first investigates whether the public health sector follows the reformation trends suggested by official strategies and reports, and to what extent the private health sector is a viable alternative to the public one, by analysing the demand for private inpatient services. We look into the reduction in the occupancy degree in public hospitals as a means to increase the efficiency of public health expenditures, which represents one way to reform the public health sector. We also find that the increase in the occupancy degree in private hospitals is negatively correlated with the quality of services provided by public hospitals, but positively correlated with population wealth. Increase in the occupancy degree in private hospitals is an indicator of poor quality of services in public hospitals. It can also be explained by increasing expectations and requirements of beneficiaries as a reflection of increase in wealth and of their will to preserve their health capital. Using regression models, the paper then proposes the Wealth-Health Index, a composite indicator to explore the connection between wealth and health and the dynamics of the private health sector. Investment in physical infrastructure and the size of medical staff in the private sector is positively correlated with wealth increase.

The total sporting arms race: benchmarking the efficiency of public expenditure on sports in EU countries

ABSTRACT Research question The goal of this research is to determine patterns and evolution of relative technical efficiency, as well as its role in changes of total factor productivity of the public spending on sports in EU member countries. Research methods An input-oriented, variable returns to scale model of data envelopment analysis and Malmquist productivity index are applied. They involve two outputs (mass participation in sport and elite sport successes), and two inputs (public and households’ spending on sports). Results and Findings The technical efficiency across EU countries shows a clear heterogeneity and volatility. Aside from six to seven efficient countries in each time period, other countries register a continuum of inefficiency scores, down to 0.08–0.20, which is indicative of important potential savings in public spending. From a time perspective, five patterns of efficiency and productivity evolution are identified. The common phenomenon is a deterioration of production possibilities which is not offset by rising managerial efficiency. Implications The study contributes to the comparative research of sport systems in Europe. Its results may enable peer learning and inform future initiatives, both at the national level and in the framework of the emerging European sport policy. In particular, the study indicates benchmark countries for each inefficient country, which is an interesting start for further qualitative exploration for both researchers and policy makers.

ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE EFFICIENCY: A REVIEW

Public spending is considered an important tool in a government’s continuous efforts to improve the delivery of the public sector and achieve growth objectives. The increasing demand for higher expenditures may create a tax burden and pressurised the budgetary allocation. This leads to the rising concern to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure. A highly efficient public sector will likely be able to produce more outputs with less spending on inputs. Hence, the primary aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the growing literature on public expenditure efficiency. Against this background, an extended review will be discussed on the determinants that influence the efficiency of public spending. As such, the objective of this paper can be summarised to address the following key questions. Firstly, how to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure? Secondly, what are the determinants that influence the efficiency of public spending? The answers to these questions will help solve the recent problem of budget constraints faced by policymakers.

Assessing public expenditure efficiency at the subnational level in India: Does governance matter?

The issue of public expenditure efficiency has drawn the attention of both policymakers and researchers globally. The paper attempts to measure the efficiency of government expenditures on the social sector, especially health and education, among the major Indian states using various data envelopment analysis. The paper also attempts to understand what drives public expenditure efficiency. The results suggest that there is a wide variation in the efficiency of public spending as well as scope for resource‐saving at the subnational level in India. It finds that states are spending their resources more efficiently on education than on health and the overall social sector spending. It also finds that quality of governance, economic growth, and mothers' schooling affects the efficiency of education, health, and social sector with governance to have a larger effect compared to other factors. Overall, the study suggests that improving governance could yield better outcomes from public expenditure.Highlights The paper looks at understanding the issue of public expenditure of efficiency of education, health, and overall social sector over the 15 year period since the year 2000, broadly covering the millennium development goal period at the subnational level in India. By using data envelopment analysis, the study derives the efficiency scores for major states for three‐time periods for input‐oriented, output‐oriented, and nonoriented conditions. The results broadly suggest that there is wide divergence in terms of efficiency levels across the states and also finds some spatial patterns. States in Western region appear to be more efficient than compared to other regions. Overall, the states appear to be spending efficiently on the education compared to health. In terms of what explains such divergences in efficiency levels, the study looks at broader determinants‐overall governance‐with conditional variables such as level of incomes and mothers' schooling. The econometric results suggest that it is the level of governance that affects the efficiency levels at the subnational level in India.

State Aid Rules and Public Financing of Infrastructure. The Case of Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A.

Abstract The operation of a toll road typically involves an economic activity for which State aid rules apply. However, if the construction and operation of the road infrastructure is bundled and they are tendered out together, they usually fall outside the State aid regime. The reason for it lies in the fact that the use of competitive procurement procedures aim to increase the efficiency of public expenditure and to ensure a level playing field for private operators to compete for public contracts. Nevertheless, based on the European Commission’s decisional practice, it transpires that an economic advantage for a concession holder cannot be ruled out automatically, in particular when there are amendments made to the original agreement. On the example of the Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. case, critical State aid issues are discussed, among others, the application of State aid rules to public financing of infrastructure, the amendments made to a concession contract in the light of the risk assignment problem, as well as the existence of State aid in the form of overcompensation for a concession holder. The considerations are carried out on the canvas of a concrete case; however, they are enriched by the analysis of relevant legal provisions as well as conclusions from the EU courts and the European Commission decisions made in similar cases.

The Efficiency of Universities in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

This paper investigates the efficiency of European universities in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We make use of newly published University Impact Rankings that account for SDGs, whereby institutions that achieved high scores are those that are, in addition to scientific research, putting more efforts in areas such as gender inequality, quality education for all, climate change, achieving peaceful societies and economic growth. In our empirical analysis, we adopt a dual approach. At a country level, we investigate efficiency of public expenditure on tertiary education, while at a university level we analyse the efficiency of the resources employed in achieving higher rankings (in terms of SDGs). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) results indicate that, at a macro level, only three to four countries in our sample are fully efficient. They could, therefore, without changing government tertiary expenditures on education, produce about 20% better score on University impact rankings. At a micro level, only about 16 percent of universities is efficient. Their performance could be much improved, without increasing the inputs, especially in terms of supporting SDGs through cooperation with other countries, the promotion of best practices and the publication of data in cooperation with foreign authors.

Enhancing the efficiency of infrastructure projects to improve access to finance

While there has been much discussion about the large infrastructure needs in Asia and the Pacific, less attention has been paid to public expenditure efficiency in infrastructure services delivery. New constructions are not the only solution, especially when governments have limited capital to invest. Globally, new infrastructure projects face delays and cost overruns, leading to an inefficient use of public resources. The root causes include the lack of transparency in project selection, the lack of project preparation, the silo approach by public entities in assessing feasibility studies, and the lack of public sector capacity to fully develop a bankable pipeline of projects. To tackle these issues, governments need a smarter investment approach and to do so, enhancing public service efficiency is very crucial. The paper suggests a “whole life cycle” (WLC) approach as the main strategic solution for the discussed issues and challenges. We expand the definition of WLC to include the entire life cycle of the infrastructure asset from need identification to its disposal. The stages comprise planning, preparation, procurement, design, construction, operation and maintenance, and disposal. This is because we believe any efficient or inefficient decision throughout such a wide life cycle influences the quality of public services. Hence, in this holistic approach, infrastructure life cycle consists of four phases: planning, preparation, procurement, and implementation. Governments could enhance public efficiency and thus improve access to finance throughout the WLC by several solutions. These are (i) preparing infrastructure master plan and pipelines and long-term budgeting during the planning phase; (ii) establishing framework and guidelines and improving governance during preparation phase; (iii) promoting standardization, transparency, open government, and contractual consistency during the procurement phase; and finally (iv) continued role of government and total asset management during the implementation phase. In addition to these phase-specific means, key WLC solutions include proper use of technology, capacity building, and private participation in general and public-private partnership (PPP) in particular.

Ekologiczne zamówienia publiczne na tle zasady równego traktowania i uczciwej konkurencji

Artykuł przedstawia zagadnienie ekologicznych zamówień publicznych z perspektywy zasady równego traktowania i uczciwej konkurencji wykonawców uczestniczących w postępowaniu o udzielenie zamówienia publicznego. Proekologiczna instrumentalizacja zamówień publicznych powinna bowiem następować w zgodzie z podstawową funkcją systemu publicznych wydatków, jaką jest zapewnienie jak najszerszego dostępu do krajowych rynków dla wykonawców z całej Unii Europejskiej. Celem artykułu jest prezentacja wybranych przejawów uwzględniania aspektów środowiskowych w postępowaniu o udzielenie zamówienia publicznego oraz ich ocena z punktu widzenia postulatu zapewnienia efektywności publicznych wydatków. W tym kontekście fundamentalne znaczenie ma zasada równego traktowania i uczciwej konkurencji, która stanowi bezwzględną wytyczną wobec działań zamawiającego w każdym z prowadzonych postępowań zamówieniowych. Nowoczesne zamówienia publiczne powinny być realizowane w zgodzie z określonymi standardami środowiskowymi. Należy jednak podkreślić, że efektywność zamówień publicznych jest bezpośrednio związana z zasadą równego traktowania i uczciwej konkurencji. Wyłącznie bowiem w warunkach presji konkurencyjnej, oferty składane przez wykonawców wykazywać będą najlepszy stosunek jakości do ceny, a tym samym zamawiający będzie miał możliwość wyboru oferty obiektywnie najkorzystniejszej na danym rynku towarów czy usług.

Fiscal illusion as an incentive for local government public expenditure efficiency: The influence of community sensitization

Although the effect of public expenditure efficiency on local government fiscal performance is widely-documented, what precisely explains expenditure efficiency remains largely unclear. Nevertheless, past research holds fiscal illusion as the most likely predictor and community sensitization very critical for fiscal illusion-expenditure efficiency formation. We employed fiscal illusion theory to investigate possible fiscal illusion-community sensitization-expenditure efficiency mediation in 16 districts, 6 municipalities, and 160 sub-counties of Uganda’s northern region. Over the years, Uganda; an East African country, is applauded for its fiscal federalism proficiency. But presently, its northern region is grappling a 20-year post-conflict trauma likely to compromise entity spending efficiency. Structural equation modeling results suggest that all the four fiscal illusion constructs: fiscal imbalances, political divide, tax payment bias, and fiscal sabotage, predict changes in expenditure efficiency. However, community sensitization does not mediate the fiscal illusion-expenditure efficiency linkages. Implications for these findings and possible direction for future research are discussed.

Bibliometric Study of the Efficiency of Public Expenditure on Education

This bibliometric study analyzes the literature on the efficiency of public education expenditure using two types of bibliometric indicators: quantity (number of publications) and quality (impact by year, author, and journal). These indicators are calculated with worldwide results from the database Scopus from January 2000 to June 2018. The results were classified by author, journal, and publication country focusing on the methodological approach with the aim of identifying research trends in the field. The main results indicate the existence of a growing interest by scholars in the field since 2000, who have used different levels of comparative analysis (cross-country, regional, university, school, and student) and methods (parametric and nonparametric). In addition, nonparametric approaches have been most relevant in recent years thanks to the development of statistical software, their public access, and the possibility to work with a small database, which allows an easy implementation and use of cross-country comparisons. Finally, there is an evident lack of literature analyzing the efficiency of education expenditure in Latin American countries, which opens up a future line of research.

Bibliometric and Trend Analysis of Budget Transparency

Over the last few decades, an integral part of public finance development is budget (fiscal) transparency and accountability. It is also in the focus of scientific interest and international organizations’ activity. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of valuable empirical research on identifying key triggers and inhibitors of budget (fiscal) transparency and its cohesion with other concepts in public finance management. Thus, this research deals with the realization of several tasks: 1) identification of budget (fiscal) transparency genesis and its essence in modern terms; 2) clarification of its cohesion with other concepts in public finance management using modern tools of bibliometric analysis; 3) characteristics of a current state of budget transparency in Ukraine, identification problems and prospects in this sphere. The second task fulfillment is based on Google Ngram Viewer, Google Trends, and VOSviewer bibliometric tools. Implementation of Google Ngram Viewer is aimed at popularity quantification of the concepts “budget transparency”, “fiscal transparency” and “budget accountability” in English Google books for 1960-2012. It defines budget (fiscal) transparency and accountability became the focus of scientific interest starting from 1960th, demonstrating an increase from the 1990th, and peaked in 2005. Google Trends analysis also showed that the peak of Internet users’ interest in budget (fiscal) transparency issues was in 2005-2006. Moreover, Google Trends analysis and frequency of Scopus articles published on the budget (fiscal) transparency issues lead to the conclusion that this concept remains popular among both scientists and regular Internet users worldwide. VOSviewer analysis of 419 Scopus articles reveals that budget (fiscal) transparency closely connected with economic prosperity and sustainability at national and local levels, poverty elimination, environmental responsibility, democratic values implementation, fight against corruption, good governance, and especially the efficiency of public finance management, fiscal policy, and government expenditures. Finally, analysis of budget transparency level in Ukraine based on Open Budget Survey 2019 allows concluding that despite the general improvement of the country score (from 54 to 63 points) in comparison with the previous Survey period, Ukraine still has problems with Mid-Year Review and Pre-Budget Statement. Keywords: Bibliometric Analysis, Budget Accountability, Budget Transparency, Google Ngram, Google Trends, Fiscal Transparency, VOSviewer.

Does the efficiency of public investment in human capital affect the country’s economic development?

Modern theories of economic growth emphasize the meaning of the investment in human capital as the most profitable. Although the positive relationship between public investment in human capital and the country’s economic development is commonly accepted, the answer to the question of whether the efficiency of this investment is crucial for welfare, is no longer so obvious. The aim of this study is to recognize the relationship between the technical efficiency of public spending on human capital and the economic development in the sample of 28 EU states. For this purpose DEA method was applied to evaluate the efficiency of public expenditure on healthcare and education in order to build human capital. Then, DEA scores were correlated with countries’ economic development indicators expressed by GDP per capita. The study proves that the commonly accepted dependency between the potential of human capital and countries’ welfare is not reflected in the correlation between countries’ GDP per capita and the DEA efficiency of public investment in human capital

Determinants of Public Health Care, Education and Administration Efficiency in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe

This paper analyses determinants of public sector efficiency in 15 Central Eastern and South Eastern European (CESEE) countries. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and panel Tobit regressions we analyse the efficiency of public expenditure on health care, education, and public administration. This paper represents the first analysis of public expenditure efficiency for this region. The countries in the sample share a similar economic transition background and transition related challenges in terms of government size and efficiency. In this paper we use input-oriented DEA to calculate efficiency scores and apply Tobit regressions to identify the determinants of public expenditure efficiency for each category. According to our results, the health care sector shows the most room for improvement. With an average input efficiency score of 0.87, the analysed countries could attain the same output with an average 13% fewer resources. The results show that Bulgaria, Estonia, and Slovenia are the most efficient, whilst Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the worst performers. GDP per capita has a positive effect on efficiency in the health care sector, the rising share of the elderly population reduces the efficiency coefficient, whilst a higher level of education has a positive effect on the efficiency score, as recorded in earlier studies. In education, our results suggest that countries waste an average 10% of their resources. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Romania, and the Slovak Republic represent the frontier, while the worst performers are Slovenia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The results show that GDP per capita has a positive effect on efficiency in the education sector, whilst a higher unemployment rate leads to lower efficiency scores. Regarding public administration, the average efficiency score of the analysed countries is 0.9, which indicates that countries are wasting an average 10% of their resources. Estonia and Romania are fully efficient, whilst Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary are the most inefficient countries in the sample. As expected, GDP per capita and institutional quality have positive effects on the efficiency of public administration.

Life Expectancy of Population of the Country: The Role of Health Services Effectiveness

The impact of health care on life expectancy of population in different countries has been studied. The subject of the study was analysis of efficiency of public health expenditures and their percentage of Gross Domestic Product. The authors employed a relatively new method of comparative analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which involves to measure technical efficiency of activity of an economic entity. DEA method allowed identifying the effectiveness of economic measures in healthcare system, as well as provision of the necessary volume of medical services in different countries. A study was conducted to compare the actual effectiveness of the country's medical services to the maximum possible effectiveness. As factor indicators, the summary of health expenditure and its percentage of GDP were considered. The average life expectancy of countries was taken as an average resulting indicator. According to the results, all the surveyed indicators proved to be the most effective measures in providing population with medical services in such countries as Andorra and San Marino, Monaco. It was determined that in order to increase the average life expectancy for one year, an average annual increase in the expenditure on the health care system by 0.48% of GDP is required.

Slovak Republic

Since 2016, the Slovak government has prepared several spending reviews with the aim of improving the efficiency of public expenditures, better serve citizens, and consolidate the public finances. Some of these reviews (e.g., transport) have included a strong focus on infrastructure investment. To further improve public investment management (PIM), the authorities requested that a Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) mission be conducted in parallel to the ongoing program of spending reviews.

A eficiência do gasto público em educação: Uma avaliação na região do Seridó Potiguar (2008-2015)

A administração pública tem como intuito o alcance de suas metas com a aplicação mínima de dispêndios públicos. Comparar os resultados obtidos e os respectivos investimentos financeiros empregados favorece a construção do processo decisório eficiente, como também a racionalização do uso dos recursos do fundo público. Na presente artigo buscou-se avaliar, por meio da aplicação da técnica de Análise Envoltória de Dados – DEA com orientação para output, a eficiência dos gastos públicos em educação nos Anos Iniciais e Finais do Ensino Fundamental na região Seridó do Rio Grande do Norte, elencando quais municípios aparecem como eficientes na execução de seus dispêndios com educação para o período de anos entre 2008 a 2015. As análises indicaram que 84,6% dos municípios pequeno porte 1 foram eficientes em alguns biênios das análises do Ensino Fundamental nos Anos Iniciais, e 46,1% tiveram seus desempenhos considerados eficientes nos Anos Finais em, no mínimo um dos biênios. Nas avaliações do Ensino Fundamental nos Anos Iniciais e Finais dos municípios de pequeno porte 2 obteve-se semelhança entre os scores de eficiência para as unidades nos intervalos dos Anos Iniciais e diferença entre os desempenhos apenas nas análises dos Anos Finais que possibilitou a identificação da DMU presente na fronteira de eficiência.