Public Sector Expenditure Research Articles

Decreasing Productivity in the Primary Healthcare: A Study of the Brazilian Case

ABSTRACT: In 2015, the United Nations (UN) proposed the 2030 Agenda, a resolution that outlines the global goals for sustainable development. This report focuses on promoting health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of primary healthcare (PHC). However, Brazil faces challenges in managing its healthcare system, exacerbated by fiscal policy changes that have reduced public sector expenditures after 2015. This study was motivated by these recent changes in Brazil’s fiscal policy. We evaluated potential fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) in 5,524 Brazilian municipalities’ primary healthcare from 2015 to 2019. TFP, a measure of efficiency and production technology in PHC, was computed using the bootstrapping Malmquist productivity index (MPI) derived from the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) algorithm. This study focused on the economic recession and austerity measures initiated in 2015. Moreover, it’s essential to highlight that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Brazil in 2020 brought significant changes to the country’s economic, social, and health dynamics. Therefore, this research intentionally concentrated on the pre-pandemic period. Our results revealed that TFP in the PHC sector in Brazil decreased between 2015 and 2019. It was possible to note that three out of every four Brazilian municipalities experienced either stagnation or a decline in the TFP of primary healthcare, with more pronounced challenges in the Midwest and Northeast regions. Looking at the TFP elements, we could see a continuous drop in technical efficiency everywhere in the country, markedly in the Midwest and Northeast. Conversely, there was a considerable uptick in Brazil’s technological component. These results implied that there might have been advancements in PHC’s technological infrastructure, preventing even less favorable outcomes in the TFP indicator. We concluded that the productivity of primary healthcare in Brazil declined when the 2015 fiscal ceiling was implemented. This decrease in performance was evident in the sluggish growth rate of primary healthcare inputs, a diminution in vaccination coverage indicators, and an increase in hospitalizations for preventable causes. Given that health is a crucial component of social well-being, it is vital to highlight the need for comprehensive efforts to guarantee the effective operation and advancement of primary healthcare services, even during economic downturns.

Evaluation of the Performance of SMEs in the Context of Regional Development

Research background: Regional development of the European territory is becoming a key priority area and thus arouses interest in analyzes of the impact of development not only of business activities on economic competitiveness. Entrepreneurship is an important part of every country's economic system and has important implications for the growth of society. The paper focuses on the possibility of identifying the determinants of regional competitiveness of the manufacturing industry with a focus on defining their impact on SME performance, in the sense of EVA in the programming period 2014-2020. Purpose of the article: The presented paper focuses on the performance of companies in the Czech economy in connection with the reflection of national regional policy documents. Purpose of the article is to evaluate the economic performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry in connection with the level of development of the regions in the Czech Republic in which they are located. Methods: The evaluation of the achieved level of regional development is performed at the level of regions and administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers. Through multidimensional regression modelling, the determinants of regional development disparities are identified with a focus on defining their impact on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises expressed by the economic value added (EVA) indicator. Findings & Value Added: Public sector expenditure on science and research was evaluated as the most important parameter of regional disparities, which explains the economic performance of companies. Based on the achieved results, measures are proposed for the cultivation of the business environment for the next programming period. The contribution is the proposals for the formulation of regional policy with a focus on the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Impact of Forensic Accounting on Fraud Detection in Zimbabwes Public Sector Expenditure Cycle

Impact of Forensic Accounting on Fraud Detection in Zimbabwes Public Sector Expenditure Cycle

Analyzing the Effect of Infant Mortality, Life Expectancy and Health Expenses on Labor Force Participation in Pakistan

This study has analyzed the effect of different health indicators like life expectancy, infant mortality rate and health expenses on labor force participation in Pakistan. The study employs autoregressive distributed lag model on time series data for empirical analysis. The study found that infant mortality rate and life expectancy have important impact on the labor force participation in Pakistan. The regression results indicated that public sector expenditures on health sector also exert positive impact on the labor force participation. This shows that healthy individuals can better participate in the market activities. Moreover, human capital variable like education is also likely to exert positive effect on labor force participation of individuals.

Critically Evaluate the Impacts of the Troubled Families Program, Engaging with Relevant Literature

The Troubled Families Program (TFP) in the UK is a government initiative aimed at helping disadvantaged families with health issues, crime, employment, and violence. It is one of the only two government-funded family programs in the UK, with an estimated £9 billion spent on 120,000 troubled families. The program aims to reduce long-term public sector expenditures while improving outcomes for the community's most needy families. The government claims to have successfully turned around 99 percent of all troubled families in 2015, with the positive impacts including breaking down silos in the government, enabling a greater focus on collaborative whole-family work, and enhancing the capacity to deliver comprehensive services. However, the limitations of the program also can't be ignored.

Excellent Customer Services and Tax Revenue Generation: A Theoretical and Conceptual Review

Revenue generation from taxpayers is one prime and important component of government fiscal acquisitions. Taxation is the process of levying and collection of tax from taxable persons and organizations or establishments. The objectives of government using taxation include revenue generation to help the government to finance increasing public sector expenditure and to promote social, economic and good governance through provision of merit goods. Merit goods include health and education that must not be left solely to private hands, though private participation should also be encouraged. Revenue generated from tax can also be used to provide commonly consumed goods and services for which individuals cannot be levied. Public goods include internal security through maintenance of law and order by police and other security agencies, external security through defense against external aggression by Navy, Army and Air Forces, and provision of basic amenities such as pipe borne water, street lights and roads. We reviewed tax customer services provided by internal revenue agencies and explore options that are available for excellent customer services to be provided in this parlance. We conclude by identifying gaps in the research domain as a way of setting the stage for further research on the subject matter Keywords: Revenue, Government, Tax, Taxation, Public Good, Fiscal, Finance, Security, Customers Journal Reference Format: Obadeyi Juliana Adepeju & Adeyemo, Felicia (2023): Excellent Customer Services and Tax Revenue Generation - Theoretical and Conceptual Review. Social Informatics, Business, Politics, L:aw, Environmental Sciences & Technology Journal. Vol. 9, No. 3. Pp 9-20 www.isteams/socialinformaticsjournal. dx.doi.org/10.22624/AIMS/SIJ/V9N3P2.

The Interactive Effect of Good Governance and Oil Rent on Life Expectancy in Iran

Background: Oil revenues, as an important part of the government's revenues in Iran's oil-dependent economy, play an important role in providing public sector expenditures, including the health sector and consequently have an impact on health outputs. On the other hand, the way of using and managing oil revenues is an important factor in the way of this effect. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the interactive effect of good governance and oil rent on life expectancy in Iran.
 Methods: The present descriptive-analytical study investigated the short-term and long-term equilibrium relationship between health output index, per capita income, oil rent, good governance index, and the cross (interactive) effect of good governance and oil rent from 1985 to 2020 using the time series data of Iran. The data used were collected from World Bank global development indicators database and international country risk guide. Also, model estimation was conducted using and autoregressive distributed lag and data analysis was performed using Eviews 10 software.
 Results: The results show that in the short and long term, the increase in oil rent improves the health output index in the country. One percent increase in the share of oil rent from gross domestic product (GDP), in the long and short term, increases the life expectancy in the country by about 0.101 and 0.668 percent, respectively. However, the interactive effect of oil rent and good governance index in the short and long term is negative and significant with coefficients of - 0.084 and - 0.515; which shows that oil rent leads to a decrease in life expectancy by weakening good governance indicators.
 Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, it can be said that oil rent is inherently useful in promoting health in the country; but its improper use and management causes the health sector to not benefit from it and even become a loss.

Pre-Commercial Procurement: In Search of Innovative Solutions for the Public Sector

Public sector expenditures in the form of public procurement form 14% of the gross domestic product of the European Union. Realizing the potential of this impressive purchasing power determines the direction of building new concepts in the procurement process. A strategic understanding of procurement hat shifts the focus from “how” we buy to “what” we buy is outlining. Innovative procurement is one aspect of the strategic concept for this peculiar relationship between the public and private sectors. Pre-commercial procurement as an approach to purchase innovative solutions in response to identified needs of the public sector adds value not only in terms of buyers, but also to achieve economic growth by creating competition in the market, accelerated commercialization of innovative solutions, improvement of cooperation between market entities, incl. cross-border etc.

Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings: A cost analysis study of diagnostic tests using different Ag-RDTs and RT-PCR technologies in Mozambique.

Early diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 is fundamental to reduce the risk of community transmission and mortality, as well as public sector expenditures. Three years after the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there are still gaps on what is known regarding costs and cost drivers for the major diagnostic testing strategies in low- middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to estimate the cost of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis of symptomatic suspected patients by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) in Mozambique. We conducted a retrospective cost analysis from the provider's perspective using a bottom-up, micro-costing approach, and compared the direct costs of two nasopharyngeal Ag-RDTs (Panbio and Standard Q) against the costs of three nasal Ag-RDTs (Panbio, COVIOS and LumiraDx), and RT-PCR. The study was undertaken from November 2020 to December 2021 in the country's capital city Maputo, in four healthcare facilities at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care, and at one reference laboratory. All the resources necessary for RT-PCR and Ag-RDT tests were identified, quantified, valued, and the unit costs per test and per facility were estimated. Our findings show that the mean unit cost of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis by nasopharyngeal Ag-RDTs was MZN 728.00 (USD 11.90, at 2020 exchange rates) for Panbio and MZN 728.00 (USD 11.90) for Standard Q. For diagnosis by nasal Ag-RDTs, Panbio was MZN 547.00 (USD 8.90), COVIOS was MZN 768.00 (USD 12.50), and LumiraDx was MZN 798.00 (USD 13.00). Medical supplies expenditures represented the main driver of the final cost (>50%), followed by personnel and overhead costs (mean 15% for each). The mean unit cost regardless of the type of Ag-RDT was MZN 714.00 (USD 11.60). Diagnosis by RT-PCR cost MZN 2,414 (USD 39.00) per test. Our sensitivity analysis suggests that focussing on reducing medical supplies costs would be the most cost-saving strategy for governments in LMICs, particularly as international prices decrease. The cost of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis using Ag-RDTs was three times lower than RT-PCR testing. Governments in LMICs can include cost-efficient Ag-RDTs in their screening strategies, or RT-PCR if international costs of such supplies decrease further in the future. Additional analyses are recommended as the costs of testing can be influenced by the sample referral system.

Public expenditure management and development in Nigeria: an examination of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) 2004

In recent times there has been renewed emphasis on expenditure management because fiscal stress has constrained the ability of most countries, especially the developing world to provide social and economic infrastructure for their citizens. Hence, concerted efforts have been made in most developing countries to eliminate waste, control the inexorable rise in government expenditure and free up resources to provide social and economic infrastructure. This contribution critically examines the public expenditure management reform embedded in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) 2004 by the Obasanjo regime in Nigeria. It assesses the impact of the reform on the nation’s development. The discourse is analytical, it relies on secondary data sources and adopts the New Public Management theory as its framework of analysis. It argues that the public sector expenditure reform encapsulated in NEEDS has been counterproductive. To improve the efficacy of the reform, corruption has to be addressed and transparency enhanced in our political institutions. In addition, there is need to re-launch our development priorities in line with local needs, local conditions and level of the productive forces.

Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth in South Africa

Several fiscal policy strategies have been implemented in South Africa since 1994, starting from the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), Broad-Black Economic Empowerment strategy (BEE), AsgiSA (Accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa), and the New Growth Path framework (NGP) with the aim of boosting economic growth. However, the rate of economic growth in the country over the years is not convincing. It is also important to note that poverty still remains prevalent and persistent, predominantly in the poverty-stricken areas of provinces such as Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West, and Mpumalanga. In light of this, the main aim of the study was to examine the effect of fiscal policy instruments on economic growth in South Africa for the period from 1988 to 2018, utilising the autoregressive distributed lag model, mainly due to the order of integration of the variables. Empirical results revealed that there is a positive relationship between fiscal policy instruments (public sector expenditure, public consumption spending, and taxation) and economic growth. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the government should distinguish between productive and unproductive spending and increase spending on productive sectors. The implication of these findings is that South Africa’s economy is likely to perform better if more resources are diverted from government consumption to investment spending.

SIZE OF PUBLIC SECTOR IN MALAYSIA: PREMIERSHIP OF PRIME MINISTERS

This study aims to evaluate the size of the public sector during the premiership of three former prime ministers of Malaysia. The size of the public sector in Malaysia was measured based on total expenditure for the period 1982 - 2015. A comparison of public sector size based on the percentage of total public sector expenditure to GDP suggests that the size of the public sector was bigger during the early years of Tun Dr. Mahathir’s premiership; the percentage remained at a low level from 1994 onwards and continued during the tenure of his successors. The trend in the size of the public sector of the three prime ministers ranges from 15% to 30%, which means that the Malaysian government's sizing practices are consistent with other countries. Taking into account the government’s operating expenditure to total expenditure, the percentage of operating expenditure increased during the premiership of Dato’ Sri Najib. The government policy in the days of Dato’ Sri Najib focused on implementing government reform programs and increasing employment, which could have led to higher operating expenditure compared to development expenditure. Based on trends in government spending, the size of the government can be related to political or policy changes and economic conditions during the said prime ministers’ tenure.

Using donor funding to catalyse investment in malaria prevention in Ghana: an analysis of the potential impact on public and private sector expenditure

BackgroundAn estimated 1.5 billion malaria cases and 7.6 million malaria deaths have been averted globally since 2000; long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have contributed an estimated 68% of this reduction. Insufficient funding at the international and domestic levels poses a significant threat to future progress and there is growing emphasis on the need for enhanced domestic resource mobilization. The Private Sector Malaria Prevention (PSMP) project was a 3-year intervention to catalyse private sector investment in malaria prevention in Ghana.MethodsTo assess value for money of the intervention, non-donor expenditure in the 5 years post-project catalysed by the initial donor investment was predicted. Non-donor expenditure catalysed by this investment included: workplace partner costs of malaria prevention activities; household costs in purchasing LLINs from retail outlets; domestic resource mobilization (public sector financing and private investors). Annual ratios of projected non-donor expenditure to annualized donor costs were calculated for the 5 years post-project. Alternative scenarios were constructed to explore uncertainty around future consequences of the intervention.ResultsThe total donor financial cost of the 3-year PSMP project was USD 4,418,996. The average annual economic donor cost per LLIN distributed through retail sector and workplace partners was USD 21.17 and USD 7.55, respectively. Taking a 5-year post-project time horizon, the annualized donor investment costs were USD 735,805. In the best-case scenario, each USD of annualized donor investment led to USD 4.82 in annual projected non-donor expenditure by the fifth-year post-project. With increasingly conservative assumptions around the project consequences, this ratio decreased to 3.58, 2.16, 1.07 and 0.93 in the “very good”, “good”, “poor” and “worst” case scenarios, respectively. This suggests that in all but the worst-case scenario, donor investment would be exceeded by the non-donor expenditure it catalysed.ConclusionsThe unit cost per net delivered was high, reflecting considerable initial investment costs and relatively low volumes of LLINs sold during the short duration of the project. However, taking a longer time horizon and broader perspective on the consequences of this complex catalytic intervention suggests that considerable domestic resources for malaria control could be mobilized, exceeding the value of the initial donor investment.

Internal Audit Effectiveness and Financial Accountability in the Provincial Treasuries of South Africa

Provincial Treasuries are responsible for assisting the National Treasury in enforcing compliance with the measures established in the South African constitution, which stipulates public sector expenditure control and transparency. This study aims to examine the relationship between internal audit effectiveness and financial accountability in the Provincial Treasuries of South Africa. The theoretical inclination is on the stewardship theory. The research is based on a quantitative approach and draws secondary data on internal audit and financial performance from the nine provincial treasuries of South Africa. Analyses were done using the fixed effect regression after conduction the Hausman tests, Augmented Dickey-Fuller tests (ADF) and Philips Perron (PP). Findings indicate that internal audit can enhance financial accountability across all the expenditure programmes of provincial treasuries in South Africa. Government departments should embrace internal audit as a monitoring tool to evaluate financial accountability and service delivery performance, but not as a punitive initiative. In addition, educational training of internal audit staff can be very effective in achieving government financial control. The paper provides a veritable case study to higher institutions regarding educational qualification versus experience implications on public sector internal audit and accountability; it also offers an agenda for further research.

Fostering Participation in Gender Budgeting: A proposal for an online system to enhance citizens' engagement in gender-responsive budgeting

A controversial issue in the public management literature is the role attributed to women. Analyzing the existing literature, few works have been written about how the presence of women is valued in the public sector. From this analysis, several discriminatory elements are still present, and gender equality seems to be far away. However, this objective must continue to be pursued, also considering the relevance given to the gender equality issue by the United Nations in the Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement political, economic and societal legislation, programs and policies to minimize the differences between men and women. In this perspective, Gender Budgeting (GB) could be an interesting field of research. It consists of a systematic review about how women benefit from public sector expenditures, an adjustment of budgets to ensure equality of access to public sector expenditures, enhancing productive capacity and meeting social needs. However, GB could be adopted differently and could produce several results. In particular, the implementation of GB as a participatory tool is still nowadays a challenge and could be fascinating to analyze, considering the various benefits that a participatory approach could imply. One of the main reasons for the lack of direct citizens involvement in GB is that it was initially developed from a macro-perspective at the national budget. On the other hand, other participatory tools, such as the participatory budget, originate at the local level. Therefore, examining the existing literature and focusing on two different processes, but with some overlapping characteristics elements, namely participatory budgeting and gender budgeting, the present research aims to create a participatory GB framework, investigating the insertion of a participatory perspective in the process, specifically women’s engagement, not neglecting the relevance of digitalization to this end.

Public Sector Expenditure to Agriculture, Bank Credits, and Aggregate Output: A Causality Analysis of the Nigerian Evidence

This paper investigates the existence or otherwise of causal relationships between direct budgetary government expenditure on agriculture, indirect government funding through credit guarantees, and straight-bank-loans-and-advances to the agricultural sector, on one part, and the gross domestic product of the economy, on the other. It utilized descriptive statistical tools, regression analysis, diagnostic tests, and pairwise Granger causality technique against annual time-series Nigerian data from 1981 through 2019. The results indicates that agricultural credit guaranteed funding and direct credits from such banks like bank of industry and the commercial banks positively and significantly cause, as in affecting and boosting, the country’s GDP. Quite surprisingly, direct government budgetary expenditure on agriculture was revealed to cause and affect GDP, but negatively. The recommendations favor encouraging and increasing the indirect guaranteed funding and straight loans and advances by relevant banks in the country.

Narrow Concept of Accountability in Public Sector Expenditure: Measuring Accountability Proportionately and Progressively

Narrow Concept of Accountability in Public Sector Expenditure: Measuring Accountability Proportionately and Progressively

Narrow Concept of Accountability in Public Sector Expenditure: Measuring Accountability Proportionately and Progressively

Accountability is one of the main elements of the realization of good governance which is currently being pursued in Indonesia. The government is asked to report the results of the programs that have been implemented so that the public can assess whether the government has worked economically, efficiently and effectively. Accountability can be seen from an accounting perspective, a functional perspective and an accountability system perspective. This Scientific Journal uses normative legal research and uses a statutory approach and a legal concept approach. the development of the public service paradigm from a broad concept of accountability to a narrow concept of accountability in public sector procurement spending that uses providers of goods and services, both as business entities and individuals, is done through the selection of providers of goods and services. The power to set policies is exercised by the legislature, specifically in the policy of setting the state budget, known as budget rights. Meanwhile, the executive power in the field of state finances is known as the general power for managing state finances. Based on this, the concept of governance which emphasizes the mechanism in carrying out functions by actors involved in certain sectors has not shown a certain mechanism, as well as the principle of accountability which is an element of governance that is still an accountability concept with general evaluative character (umbrella concept). The very broad, general and evaluative, is very difficult to define practically and empirically because there are no operational standards for accountable behavior.

Who is responsible for developing the non-core skills of entry-level public sector trainee auditors: the case of the Auditor-General South Africa

Within the context of rising levels of corruption, financial mismanagement, fraud, and irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the South African public sector, as well as high profile audit failures, this paper investigates the employment readiness of recent auditing graduates, with particular emphasis on their non-core skills proficiency. The observations are based on a survey of respondents involved in appointing and training aspiring chartered accountants at the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA). Aspirant auditors graduating from South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) accredited universities lacked the necessary non-core skills entry-level trainee auditors at expected levels of proficiency, necessitating additional training interventions. However, universities should not be solely responsible for developing all the skills of competent public sector auditors. Instead, an integrated and collaborative effort by the key stakeholders in the auditing profession is required. These parties include universities, audit firms and professional bodies, the students themselves, as well as other parties such as regulators. Despite extant studies examining the employment readiness of auditing graduates, this is one of the first that specifically focuses on the phenomenon within the public sector.

Cash Waqf for Public Health Expenditure

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis have imposed constraints on government spending and increased borrowing to redevelop the economy. Thus, there is a need for alternative funding sources to ease the government's financial burden. Cash waqf has the potential to finance public health sector expenditures. Additionally, giving behavior plays a significant role in establishing cash waqf funds and ensuring the sustainability of waqf institutions. This paper examines the views of the public, specifically Muslims in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, regarding cash waqf and their willingness to contribute to it as an alternative financing method for public healthcare expenditures. The research framework combines variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and additional variables such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, religiosity, and trust in waqf institutions. The study finds that Muslims in the Klang Valley are aware of and willing to contribute to cash waqf for public health expenditure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further reveals that attitude and perceived behavioral control are significant factors influencing their intention to contribute. These findings can encourage relevant authorities to consider cash waqf as an alternative financing source for public health expenditures, benefiting both Muslims and non-Muslims.