Performance of the public sector is at the core of long-term wealth creation and welfare improvement. Yet, its measurement remains inadequate and flawed with data deficiency. In this paper we propose an extended framework for the assessment of public services performance that accounts for long-term impacts on welfare and empirically evaluate it across twenty-five European countries on the basis of a wide set of proxy indicators. We relate the performance scores to input costs indices and propose a coherent typology of countries that corresponds to the patterns of economic effectiveness of public services. The empirical analysis reveals that, because of differences in input costs across the enlarged EU, the economic effectiveness of public services varies to a much larger extent than the performance, with some relatively large-sized governments (Sweden, Denmark, Austria) being the most effective ones.
AdamADelisMKammasP, 2011, “Public sector efficiency: Levelling the playing field between OECD countries”Public Choice146163–183
2.
AfonsoASt AubynM, 2005, “Non-parametric approaches to education and health expenditure efficiency in OECD economies”Journal of Applied Economics8227–246
3.
AfonsoASt AubynM, 2010, “Public and private inputs in aggregate production function: A cross-country efficiency approach”, WP 1154, European Central Bank, Frankfurt
4.
AfonsoASchuknechtLTanziV, 2005, “Public sector efficiency: An international comparison”Public Choice123321–347
5.
AfonsoASchuknechtLTanziV, 2006, “Public sector efficiency: Evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets”, WP 581, European Central Bank, Frankfurt
6.
AndersenBCorleyM, 2009Productivity and the Service Sector: Theories, Concepts and Measurements (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos)
7.
AndrewsRBoyneG A, 2008, “Organizational environments and public-service failure: An empirical analysis”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy26788–807
8.
AngelopoulosKPhilippopoulosATsionasE, 2008, “Does public sector efficiency matter? Revisiting the relation between fiscal size and economic growth in a world sample”Public Choice137245–278
9.
ArndtCOmanC, 2006Uses and Abuses of Governance Indicators (OECD, Paris)
10.
AtkinsonT, 2005Atkinson Review: Final Report. Measurement of Government Output and Productivity for the National Accounts (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants)
11.
AyalaLPedrajaFSalinas-JiménezJ, 2008, “Performance measurement of local welfare programmes: Evidence from Madrid's regional government”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy26906–923
BolandTFowlerA, 2000, “A systems perspective of performance management in public sector organizations”International Journal of Public Sector Management13417–446
14.
BooysenF, 2002, “An overview and evaluation of composite indices of development”Social Indicators Research59115–135
15.
BrandD ASaisanaMRynnL APennoniFLowenfelsA B, 2007, “Comparative analysis of alcohol control policies in 30 countries”PLoS Medicine4(4):e151
16.
BrignallSModellS, 2000, “An institutional perspective on performance measurement and management in the new public sector”Management Accounting Research11281–306
17.
BurgerAStareM, 2010, “Public and private services transformation in the CEECs”The Service Industries Journal30479–496
18.
CarmonaMSiehL, 2008, “Performance measurement in planning—towards a holistic view”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy26428–454
19.
CherchyeLMoesenWRoggeNvan PuyenbroeckTSaisanaMSaltelliALiskaRTarantolaS, 2007, “Creating composite indicators with DEA and robustness analysis: The case of the Technology Achievement Index”Journal of Operational Research Society59239–251
20.
ClementsB, 2002, “How efficient is education spending in Europe?”European Review of Economics and Finance13–26
21.
de BruijnH, 2002, “Performance measurement in the public sector: Strategies to cope with the risks of performance measurement”International Journal of Public Sector Management15578–594
22.
de VriesW F M, 2001, “Meaningful measures: Indicators on progress, progress on indicators”International Statistical Review69313–331
23.
Di MeglioGStareMMarotoARubalcabaL, 2009, “Impact assessment of private and public services in Europe”, ServPPIN Project Deliverable, http://www.servppin.com
24.
DjellalFGalloujF, 2008Measuring and Improving Productivity in Services: Issues, Strategies and Challenges (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos)
25.
DjellalFGalloujF, 2010, “Innovation gap and the performance gap in the service economies: A problem for public policy”, in The Handbook of Innovation and Services: A Multi-disciplinary Perspective Eds GalloujFDjellalF, (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos) pp 653–675
26.
EbertUWelschH, 2004, “Meaningful environmental indices: A social choice approach”Journal of Environmental Economics and Management47270–283
27.
European Commission, 2001Handbook on Price and Volume Measures in National Accounts (European Communities, Luxembourg)
28.
European Commission, 2009, “GDP and beyond—measuring progress in a changing world”, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, COM(2009) 433 final, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels
29.
GadreyJ, 2002, “The misuse of productivity concepts in services: Lessons from a comparison between France and the United States”, in Productivity, Innovation and Knowledge in Services Eds GadreyJGalloujF, (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos) pp 26–53
30.
GallM, 2007Indices of Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: A Comparative Evaluation PhD thesis, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina
31.
Gutiérrez-RomeroRHaubrichDMcLeanI, 2008, “The limits of performance assessments of public bodies: External constraints in English local government”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy26767–787
32.
JacobsRSmithPGoddardM, 2004, “Measuring performance: An examination of composite performance indicators”, TP Series 29, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
33.
KrantzD HLuceR DSuppesPTverskyA, 1971Foundations of Measurement Additive and Polynomial RepresentationsVolume I (Academic Press, New York)
OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris
36.
OECD, 2008aHandbook on Volume Measures in Education and Health.
37.
OECD, 2008bHandbook of Constructing Composite Indicators. Methodology and User Guide.
38.
OECD, 2009Measuring Government Activity.
39.
PestieauP, 2007, “Assessing the performance of the public sector”, WP 2007/03, HEC-Management School, University of Liege, Belgium
40.
PropperCWilsonD, 2003, “The use and usefulness of performance measures in the public sector”Oxford Review of Economic Policy19250–267
41.
RubalcabaLWindrumPGalloujFDi MeglioGPykaASundboJWebberM, 2011ServPPIN Final Report: The Contribution of Public and Private Services to European Growth and Welfare, and the Role of Public–Private Innovation NetworksEuropean Commission, Brussels, http://siresearch.eu/
42.
SaisanaMTarantolaSSaltelliA, 2005a, “Uncertainty and sensitivity techniques as tools for the analysis and validation of composite indicators”Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A168307–323
43.
SaisanaMNardoMSaltelliA, 2005b, “Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index”, in Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking National Environmental Stewardship Eds EstyDLevyMSrebotnjakTde SherbininA, (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, New Haven, CT) pp 75–78
44.
SaltelliA, 2007, “Composite indicators between analysis and advocacy”Social Indicators Research8165–77
45.
SchneiderF, 2009, “The size of the shadow economy for 25 transition countries over 1990/00 to 2006/2007: What do we know”, Johannes Kepler University, Linz
46.
SchreyerP, 2010, “Measuring the production of non-market services”, in Price Indexes in Time and Space: Methods and Practice Eds BieggeriLFerrariG, (Springer, Dordrecht) pp 167–187
47.
SharpeA, 2004, “Literature review of frameworks for macro-indicators”, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, Ottawa, ON
48.
Social and Cultural Planning Office of the Netherlands, 2004, “Public sector performance: An international comparison of education, health care, law and order and public administration”, SCP-publication 2004/8, The Hague
49.
StareMRubalcabaL, 2008, “Research on services: From exploring the residual to service science”, in Services Science. Fundamentals, Challenges and Future Developments Eds StaussBEngelmannKKremerALuhnA, (Springer, Dordrecht) pp 71–78
50.
St AubynMPinaAGarciaFPaisJ, 2009, “Study on the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending on tertiary education”, Economic Papers 390, European Commission, Brussels
51.
StiglitzJSennAFitoussiJ P, 2009, “Report by the Commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress”, http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr
52.
SutherlandDPriceR, 2007, “Linkages between performance and institutions in the primary and secondary education sector”, WP 558, OECD Economics Department, Paris
53.
TanziV, 1994, “Redistributing income through the budget in Latin America”Banca Nationale del Lavoro Quarterly Review March, pages 5–37
54.
United Nations, 2005Human Development Report (Oxford University Press, Oxford), http://www.undp.org
55.
Van ArkBO'MahonyMTimmerM, 2008, “The productivity gap between Europe and United States: Trends and causes”Journal of Economics Perspectives2225–44
56.
Van der PloegFVeugelersR, 2007, “Higher education reform and the renewed Lisbon strategy: The role of Member States and the European Commission”, EUI Working Papers, ECO 2007/33, European University Institute, Firenze
