General Public Services Research Articles

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HIV care continuum in Jiangsu, China

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic seriously threatens general public health services globally. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV care continuum in Jiangsu province, China.MethodsData on newly diagnosed HIV persons for analysis were retrieved from Chinas’ web-based Comprehensive Response Information Management System (CRIMS) for HIV/AIDS from 2016 to 2020. We recorded data for the first 3 months (January to March, 2020) of strictly implementing COVID-19 measures from publicly available disease databases of the Jiangsu provincial Health Committee. We used seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and exponential smoothing in forecasting the parameters. Subgroup differences were accessed using Chi-square tests.ResultsCompared to the estimated proportions, the HIV testing rates decreased by 49.0% (919,938) in the first three months of implementing COVID-19 measures. Of an estimated 1555 new HIV diagnosis expected in the same period, only 63.0% (980) new diagnoses were recorded. According to actual data recorded during the said period, 980 positively tested persons received confirmatory tests, of which 71.4% (700) were reportedly linked to care. And only 49.5% (235) out of the expected 475 newly diagnosed HIV persons received CD4 cell count testing. Meanwhile 91.6% (208) of newly diagnosed HIV persons who received CD4 count tests reportedly initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) compared to the 227 expected. Compared to the same period from 2016 to 2019, PLWH less than 30 years old and migrants were more likely to be affected by the COVID-19 policies.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted HIV healthcare systems in Jiangsu, China. Further measures that can counter the impact of the pandemic are needed to maintain the HIV care continuum.

Placemaking and Revitalization through Business and Tourism Improvement Districts in Albania

As a form of a public-private partnership with local authorities, the business improvement district (BID) is created when most businesses or business property owners agree through balloting to manage a delimited commercial area with prior authorization by the local authority. The district is managed through a non-profit organization that provides additional public services such as security, maintenance, infrastructure improvement, and marketing, to improve decaying commercial and residential areas. BIDs have been praised as engines for urban development, filling the need gap between the public and private sector by providing entrepreneurial local public management and augmented public services for socioeconomic revitalization. The business improvement districts (BIDs) and similar forms of a public-private partnership, as a new mechanism for urban renewal and economic development, have emerged in North America five decades ago and quickly adopted in many cities worldwide. Since 2011, the model has been applied in 8 districts in Albania, contributing to improved business life, infrastructure improvements, and enhanced general public services. This time is considered long enough to offer insights regarding their evolution and transformative effects. This study aims at exploring the adaptation of the business improvement district (BID) model in urban areas in Albania and, at the same time, point out its characteristics, operational and functional activities, accountability, and contribution to business development and area revitalization. The methodology used in this study adopts a qualitative method, including a case study approach to data gathering Primary data sources include semi-structured interviews with BID association members, administrators, and consultants in Albania, businesses, local government officials, and lawyers. This study will contribute to a more robust contextual understanding of the establishment and effectiveness of BIDs in developing economies The findings presented demonstrate BID’s transformative role for area regeneration, economic and social development. Furthermore, this study provides additional insights regarding the effects of development organizations’ involvement in this public-private partnership model for area regeneration. The results have important implications for Albania’s public and development policies and provide practical lessons for practitioners in these fields. Furthermore, it contributes to the international literature on BIDs, including evidence of this model applied in a developing economy.

Comparing Public and Provider Preferences for Setting Healthcare Priorities: Evidence from Kuwait.

As attempts are made to allocate health resources more efficiently, understanding the acceptability of these changes is essential. This study aims to compare the priorities of the public with those of health service providers in Kuwait. It also aims to compare the perceptions of both groups regarding key health policies in the country. Members of the general public and a sample of health service providers, including physicians, dentists, nurses, and technicians, were randomly selected to complete a structured, self-administered questionnaire. They were asked to rank health services by their perceived importance, rank preferred sources of additional health funding, and share their perceptions of the current allocation of health resources, including current healthcare spending choices and the adequacy of total resources allocated to healthcare. They were also asked for their perception of the current local policies on sending patients abroad for certain types of treatments and the policy of providing private health insurance for retirees. The response rate was above 75% for both groups. A higher tax on cigarettes was preferred by 73% of service providers as a source of additional funding for healthcare services, while 59% of the general public group chose the same option. When asked about the sufficiency of public sector health funding, 26.5% of the general public thought that resources were sufficient to meet all healthcare needs, compared with 40% of service providers. The belief that the public should be offered more opportunities to influence health resource allocation was held by 56% of the general public and 75% of service providers. More than half of the respondents from both groups believed that the policy on sending patients abroad was expensive, misused, and politically driven. Almost 64% of the general public stated that the provision of private health insurance for retirees was a ‘good’ policy, while only 34% of service providers agreed with this statement. This study showed similarities and differences between the general public and health service providers’ preferences. Both groups showed a preference for treating the young rather than the old. The general public preferred more expensive health services that had immediate effects rather than health promotion activities with delayed benefits and health services for the elderly. These findings suggest that the general public may not accept common allocative efficiency improvements in public health spending unless the challenges in this sector and the gains from reallocation are clearly communicated.

MATHEMATICAL ASSESSMENT ON DYNAMICS OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES AND GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER CAPITA, IN ROMANIA AND EUROPEAN UNION

The research purpose represents the identification and mathematical definition of some models expressed by regression equations describing the GE per inhabitant according to the GDP per inhabitant. The study is customized at EU level and in seven states located in the Eastern-EU (RO, PL, GR, BG, SI, SK and HU) for the period 2009-2018. The research methodology is based on econometric modelling and testing of their viability. Relevant conclusions are also made regarding RO's position in the European Union in terms of government spending. The research provides useful information to substantiate micro and macroeconomic decisions designed to ensure a dynamic of GE’s sustainable growth on education, health, general public services, defense, public order and safety. Based on the developed econometric models, values of endogenous variables (GE per capita) can be estimated depending on the variants of predictable scenarios for the size of the GDP per capita.

Oil bonanza and the composition of government expenditure

Government behavior can be affected by natural resource benefits. Benevolent government and political leaders may use them to improve the welfare of the people, whereas others may use them for their own interests. To examine the effects of oil bonanza on government behavior comprehensively, this study investigates how giant oilfield discoveries affect the size and composition of government expenditure using data from 168 countries between 1972 and 2008. We find weak evidence that giant oilfield discoveries increase total government expenditure significantly in the medium and long term, whereas their effects are more evident in the short term, especially when controlling for other factors affecting total government expenditure. We also obtain evidence that democracy plays a mediating role in these effects; if the democracy level in a country is consolidated, the size of total government spending does not increase even when discovering giant oilfields. Considering each category of government expenditure, giant oilfield discoveries increase expenditure on health and social protection significantly, whereas they decrease educational expenditure. Furthermore, giant oilfield discoveries decrease expenditure on economic affairs and defense and increase general public services and public order and safety. Finally, giant oilfield discoveries increase the net implicit gasoline subsidy in the long term. These findings enhance our understanding of the effects of oil bonanza on government behavior.

Digital Technologies in Finance: Modernity and Prospects

Digital technologies have radically changed all financial relations in society. A new financial business ecosystem based on the use of digital technologies is rapidly forming. The article examines the recent changes in the financial sector under the influence of new technologies. The benefits received by consumers of financial services and financial institutions from the introduction of digital technologies are assessed. The survey of financial services consumers conducted by the authors of the article to some extent reflects the situation with the use of digital financial services in Ukraine. However, the process of digitalization is still far from complete. The formation of a new ecosystem, along with opportunities, generates new risks. There are new, often complex and not always clear to the general public financial products and services. The low level of financial and digital literacy forms a platform for manipulation, falsification and outright fraud. The problem of cybersecurity is relevant. The situation with employment in the financial sector in the medium and long term is rather uncertain. System errors are a risk factor too which can cause significant damage to both individuals and legal entities. The article provides examples of system errors and identifies their main cause - low qualification of information technology professionals working in the public sector. The vision of the future development of the financial sphere within the framework of digitalization is formed, the necessary changes at the private and public levels are determined.

OECD ÜLKELERİNDE ÖZEL TÜKETİM VERGİ GELİRİ VE DEVLET HARCAMALARI ARASINDAKİ NEDENSELLİK

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between excise taxes revenues and government spending areas in OECD countries. Panel data causality analyzes were performed for 20 OECD member countries using yearly data for the 1995-2016 period to investigate the relationship between government spending in education, health, public services, defense, and social protection areas and excise tax revenues. At the end of the analysis, two-way causality relationship between excise tax and defense, education, health, general public services, and social protection spending have been observed. The results support both the spend- tax hypothesis and the tax-spend hypothesis. Furthermore, the tax-spend hypothesis is stronger in social protection spending and the spend-tax hypothesis is stronger in general public spending. Health spending strongly supports two hypotheses. It can be interpreted that the increases in defense, education, and general public services spending in the economies of OECD countries are financed by an increase in excise tax revenues. The bi-directional causality between health spending and excise tax revenue shows that both the increased excise tax revenue is directed towards health spending and excise revenues are used to cover health spending.

Revitalization of urban areas through business and tourism improvement districts (BIDs/TIDs) in Albania

The spreading of business improvement districts (BIDs) and similar forms of a public-private partnership, as a new mechanism of urban revitalization and economic development, have emerged in Canada five decades ago and quickly adopted to many cities in countries such as the USA, Germany, UK, South Africa and lately Denmark and Sweden. This form of a public-private partnership with local authorities is created when a significant number of businesses or business property owners agree through a democratic process ballot to manage a delimited area and offer additional public services such as security, maintenance, infrastructure improvement, and marketing, to improve decaying commercial and residential areas. Since 2011, the model has been applied in 8 districts in Albania, contributing to improved business life, infrastructure improvement, and enhanced general public services. The period is long enough to offer insights regarding their evolution and transformative effect in the areas where it has been applied. This paper aims to explore the adaptation of the business improvement district (BID) model in urban areas in Albania and, at the same time, point out its characteristics, activities, and contribution to the area development. The methodology used includes a qualitative research design, including primary and secondary data sources. Primary data sources include interviews with BID association members, administrators, and consultants in Albania, businesses, local government officials, and lawyers. Secondary sources include different research papers on BID functionality and BID legislation, conference proceedings, project reports, entrepreneurship magazines. By identifying the effects of the model in area transformation, this study results have important implications for Albania's public and development policies and extracts practical lessons from its introduction in this local context. The findings presented demonstrate BID's transformative role for area renewal, economic and social development of the areas where it has been applied.

Obstáculos en la activación de derechos en el marco de la defensa penitenciaria chilena

A decade ago, the Chilean Public Defense started a program of prison litigation. This article investigates institutional factors that may have an impact on the mobilization of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. We wonder if the attention provided by the public service mirrors faithfully the demand for defense expressed by convicted persons, or if it responds to institutional policy decisions taken by the Public Defense office that outline or shape such demand? We are looking for institutional factors that determine the selectivity and activation of rights inside prisons. Our analysis starts describing the general public defense services provided to convicted prisoners, paying special attention to violations of constitutional and human rights caused by prison conditions and intra-prison violence. For our analysis, we used quantitative (statistics of the Prisoner Defense) and qualitative information (interviews with key actors). We found that factors associated with the organizational structure, as well as the professional practice of prison defenders, contribute to the fact that the matters handled by the Public Defense end up mirroring the indicators and standards predetermined by the Public Service, giving less importance to situations such as mistreatment, torture, intra-prison violence and inhumane living conditions. We conclude that this selectivity in mobilizing the rights of convicted prisoners violates their constitutional guarantees and, therefore, the institutional objectives of the Prison Defense Service itself.

Discontinued dental care attendance among people with dementia: A register‐based longitudinal study

To investigate the factors that increase the risk of discontinuing dental care utilisation after dementia is diagnosed in a population in Stockholm County, Sweden. As the progression of dementia results in a deteriorating ability to maintain good oral health, it is important to identify people at risk of discontinued dental care after being diagnosed with dementia. This study is a register-based longitudinal study. Data were extracted from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem), the Swedish National Patient Register, the Dental Health Register and the Municipal Dental Care Register (Stockholm County Council). The data included people using both general public dental services and care-dependent individuals. Dental visits three years before and after dementia had been diagnosed were analysed. In total, 10444 people were included in the analysis, of which 19% did not have dental visits recorded after they were diagnosed with dementia. A logistic regression model, adjusted for relevant factors, showed that the factors associated with a greater risk for discontinued dental attendance were fewer remaining teeth (OR=0.96, 95% CI=0.95, 0.97) and living alone compared to living with another adult (OR=1.23, 95% CI=1.05, 1.43). People with Parkinson's disease dementia had a lower risk (OR=0.40, 95% CI=0.19, 0.84) than people with Alzheimer's disease. Patients, dental and healthcare personnel, and family members should all be aware of these risk factors so that appropriate support and oral care for people with dementia can be delivered.

Public Spending Efficiency in the OECD: Benchmarking Health Care, Education, and General Administration

Abstract In many OECD countries, changes in demography and health conditions are putting pressure on public finance. To prevent further expansion of government spending as a percentage of GDP, public spending efficiency will need to be raised. This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of welfare spending (normalized by the working-age population) in a sample of OECD countries around 2012, focussing on health care, secondary education, and general public services. The DEA model has a two input-one output structure, with at least one of the variables representing a composite indicator controlling for country-specific factors (socio-economic environment and lifestyle factors, for example). We find wide dispersion in efficiency measures across OECD countries and provide possible quantified improvements for both output and input efficiency.

Dışlama Etkisi: OECD Ülkelerinden Kanıtlar

The concept of the crowding-out effect, which is used to describe how an expansionary fiscal policy would reduce private investments, has become one of the major areas of research in the economy. This study aims to investigate whether or not the crowding-out effect is applicable in OECD countries. For this purpose, Panel Data Analysis was performed for the period 1995-2017. This analysis uses private investments of countries as dependent variables and, in addition to GDP and total government expenditures, it uses education, health, general public services, social protection, economic affairs, defence, public order and safety expenditures of the government as independent variables. Panel Data Analysis was performed using Huber-Eicker-White Estimator in line with the results of econometric tests required for this analysis such as stationarity, model determination, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. As a result, in OECD countries, while economic growth and defence expenditures of the government positively affect private investments, total government expenditures and social protection expenditures of the government have a crowding-out effect on private investments.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on HIV Care Continuum in Jiangsu, China

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic seriously threatens general public health services globally. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV care continuum in Jiangsu province, China. Methods: Data for analysis was retrieved from the web-based Comprehensive Response Information Management System (CRIMS) for HIV/AIDS in China. Expert modeler in SPSS time series model was used in the forecast model and Chi-square or fisher’s exact tests were performed to assess subgroup differences. Findings: Overall, a 34.2% (898,936) decrease in testing rates was observed when real data was compared with the estimated number of recorded tests from the first quarter of 2020. Although an estimated 1610 confirmatory tests were expected to be recorded in 2020, only 749 (46.5%) of confirmed HIV/AIDS cases in Jiangsu were recorded by CRIMS. Of 982 clients that received confirmatory tests, only 696 (70.9%) were reportedly linked to care. Only 34.2% (238) out of the expected 523 (53.4%) estimated number of clients received CD4 cell count test services. Meanwhile 208 (29.9%) had initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) which is comparatively lower than the 315 (32.2%) reported in the previous year. PLWHIV who were migrants, infected through homosexual transmission, and tested via key population surveillance were more likely to be influenced by the COVID-19 policies. Interpretation: The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the HIV healthcare systems in Jiangsu, China. There is a need to scale up HIV testing systems by encouraging HIV self-testing or community-based testing and providing flexible policies to facilitate ART initiation. Funding Statement: National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFE0103800); NIMH (R34MH119963), National Science and Technology Major Project (2018ZX10101-001-001-003); National Nature Science Foundation of China (81903371); Special Found on Prevention and Control of New Coronary Pneumonia in Guangdong Universities (2020KZDZX1047). Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The study process and contents were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention (NCAIDS) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in China. The study was carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines.

Comparing Public and Provider Preferences for Setting Healthcare Priorities: Evidence From Kuwait

As attempts are made to allocate health resources more efficiently, understanding the acceptability of these changes is essential. This study aims to compare the priorities of the public with those of health service providers in Kuwait. It also aims to compare the perceptions of both groups regarding key health policies in the country. Members of the general public and a sample of health service providers, including physicians, dentists, nurses, and technicians, were randomly selected to complete a structured, self-administered questionnaire. They were asked to rank health services by their perceived importance, rank preferred sources of additional health funding, and share their perceptions of the current allocation of health resources, including current healthcare spending choices and the adequacy of total resources allocated to healthcare. They were also asked for their perception of the current local policies on sending patients abroad for certain types of treatments and the policy of providing private health insurance for retirees. The response rate was above 75% for both groups. A higher tax on cigarettes was preferred by 73% of service providers as a source of additional funding for healthcare services, while 59% of the general public group chose the same option. When asked about the sufficiency of public sector health funding, 26.5% of the general public thought that resources were sufficient to meet all healthcare needs, compared with 40% of service providers. The belief that the public should be offered more opportunities to influence health resource allocation was held by 56% of the general public and 75% of service providers. More than half of the respondents from both groups believed that the policy on sending patients abroad was expensive, misused, and politically driven. Almost 64% of the general public stated that the provision of private health insurance for retirees was a ‘good’ policy, while only 34% of service providers agreed with this statement. This study showed similarities and differences between the general public and health service providers’ preferences. Both groups showed a preference for treating the young rather than the old. The general public preferred more expensive health services that had immediate effects rather than health promotion activities with delayed benefits and health services for the elderly. These findings suggest that the general public may not accept common allocative efficiency improvements in public health spending unless the challenges in this sector and the gains from reallocation are clearly communicated.

Research on Fiscal Expenditure Structure and High-Quality Economic Development: An Empirical Study Based on Panel Data from Chinese Provinces from 2007 to 2017

This paper quantitatively measures the quality of economic development in 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2017 by constructing a quality of economic development comprehensive evaluation index system. Based on this, a systematic GMM empirical analysis model is used to examine the effect of fiscal expenditure structure on the quality of economic development. The research results show that, at the macro level, all types of fiscal expenditures have a positive effect on the quality of economic development, and they are ranked from large to small in terms of environmental protection expenditures, social security and employment expenditures, science, education, cultural and health expenditures, economic construction expenditures, general public service expenditure. At the meso level, science, education, cultural and health expenditures, social security and employment expenditures, and economic construction expenditures in the eastern, central, and western regions all have a positive impact on the quality of economic development. There is obvious regional heterogeneity in the impact of general public service expenditure and environmental protection expenditure on the quality of economic development. Suggestions are put forward to optimize the structure of China’s fiscal expenditure to enable high-quality economic development.

Taxes for the People or for the Government? A Global Governance Perspective

The paper investigates the determinants of taxes collected net of public services for a sample of 104 countries from all over the world over 1996-2016 period. Starting from the assumption that what really matters for the taxpayer is the tax money that actually return to the society, after paying the cost of government, we introduce the concept of taxes collected net of public services as the difference between taxes to GDP ratio and general public services expenditures to the GDP ratio and investigates its determinants from governance perspective. The main determinants looked upon were worldwide governance indicators (WGI): control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability, regulatory quality, rule of law and voice and accountability, taken from World Bank surveys. As control variable we used GDP per capita annual growth rate. We include year fixed effects in order to control for global economic crisis, and also country fixed effects to control for unobservable country-level factors that are constant over the sample period. The analysis follows the World Bank country classification on level of development: low income, lower middle-, higher middle income and high-income countries. The results show that the rule of law governance characteristic affected the taxes net of public services the most, both in terms of economic effect and of countries coverage, while the control of corruption and regulatory quality were found significant only for lower-middle income countries and low-income countries respectively. Policy recommendations were made accordingly.

Comparing Quality of Life of Patients Undergoing Root Canal Treatment or Tooth Extraction

IntroductionThe knowledge of patient-centered outcomes concerning the consequences of root canal treatment in daily life is limited. The treatment option is often tooth extraction with possible prosthetic replacement. This study aimed to achieve a greater understanding of the patient perspective by evaluating the effect of root canal treatment in terms of quality of life and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) weights in comparison with patients who underwent tooth extraction. MethodsPatients with either root canal treatment or extraction were recruited from 6 clinics in the general public dental service during a predetermined period of 8 weeks. Three different instruments were used: the Oral Health Impact Profile evaluating the oral health–related quality of life (OHRQOL), the EQ-5D-5L evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and QALY weights, and a disease-specific questionnaire evaluating satisfaction regarding the root canal treatment. The evaluation was assessed at the initiation of treatment and after 1 month. Patient-based and tooth-specific characteristics were obtained from the dental records. ResultsEighty-five patients were included. The distribution between sexes was even, with 43 women and 42 men. The mean age was 51.1 years. Forty-eight patients (56.5%) had a tooth extraction, and 37 patients (43.5%) initiated root canal treatment. The response rate for the questionnaire at baseline was 95.3%, and at the 1-month follow-up, it was 74.1%. Two relevant and comparable groups were obtained after exclusion of the extracted third molars (n = 20), resulting in 65 patients for further analyses. At follow-up, the patients who initiated root canal treatment registered a significant improvement in perceived HRQOL according to the QALY weights (P = .02 and P < .01, respectively). Patients initiating root canal treatment reported generally high satisfaction. ConclusionsA cohort of patients either initiating root canal treatment or tooth extraction as a control group was established. Initiating root canal treatment had a positive impact on perceived HRQOL. The included patients in general dental practice registered overall high satisfaction regarding root canal treatment.

ANTONIO DE VITI DE MARCO, THE PRINCIPLE OF MINIMUM MEANS, AND POLITICAL COMPETITION

In contrast to the common maxims for good taxation, Antonio De Viti de Marco revolutionized public finance studies by placing collective economic activity within a theoretical framework and trying to explain concrete fiscal phenomena such as tax incidence or public debt. The polar cases of cooperative and monopolistic states and the state factor of production are usually considered characteristics of such a framework. Here, we remark that De Viti’s theory of the cooperative state appears grounded only on the principles of minimum means and of political competition, and on the assumption that individual income is a proxy of individual consumption of general public services. Thus, it appears that the characteristics might be inessential to the real core of his theoretical framework. Moreover, we claim that his theoretical framework was not actually applied in his explanation of concrete fiscal phenomena. Finally, we remark that he seldom employed marginal tools in hisPrincipî.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ІННОВАЦІЙНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ НА ЗАСАДАХ ТРАНСКОРДОННОГО ПАРТНЕРСТВА

The paper discusses the research findings on building innovation infrastructure in the framework of cross-border partnerships within the European vector of foreign economic relations development. The key strategic areas for creating business incubators and enhancing integration processes in terms of cross-border partnerships are identified. The alternative ways of funding innovative projects and providing support for innovation infrastructure in the context of cross-border collaboration in the form of public-private partnerships are suggested. The paper argues that public-private partnerships in cross-border cooperation involves not the whole spectrum of relations between communities within the territories of neighbouring states but only those that are associated with general use public infrastructure development and related services provision. Evidence is given that, on the one hand, cross-border infrastructure itself acts as an object of investment, and on the other one, is an essential prerequisite of investment attractiveness and economic growth. It is briefly explained that building an innovation infrastructure on the basis of cross-border partnerships will contribute to: improving the business climate and building environment for investments inflow into Ukrainian economic regions; increasing turnover, boosting small and medium entrepreneurship; creating and maintaining cross-border economic and business incubators, clusters, enhancing and further developing of infrastructure. It is specified that the integration of the developed innovation infrastructure with education, research and business brought together provides for building efficient industry innovation chains, implementing the full cycle of competitive scientific and technological product development – from a research idea to a large-scale manufacturing.

Evaluation of Efficiency in Selected Areas of Public Services in European Union Countries

Over the past 40 years, the service sector has become the dominant area of market economies. The public sector and services financed from public financing represent a specific group within the services sector. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of EU countries and find the extent to which the volume of public services (and the respective financial allocations) can have an impact on selected economic indicators. To this end, the efficiency of public expenditure in five areas of public services (general public services; health; education; social protection; and recreation, culture, and religion) in 2009 and 2016 was evaluated in relation to selected economic indicators (GDP per capita and employment in services). In addition, the efficiency of public expenditure in EU countries was evaluated in relation to the size of the public sector and traditions of public administration. For cross-country analyses within the 27 European countries, data envelopment analysis and the input-oriented variable returns to scale (VRS) model were applied. The results demonstrated that in 2009, 13 out of 27 countries were efficient as opposed to 2016, where only seven countries were efficient. In countries with bigger size of public sector, the efficiency of public expenditure on services was not established. However, there was a similarity in the efficiency of public expenditure on services between groups of EU countries regarding the tradition of public administration.