Measuring Efficiency at the Regional Level: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

European countries have been continuously under the pressure to improve public balances and efficiency of public spending. Economic crisis which started during 2007 weakened public finances at the state and local level in countries all over the world. In Croatia local government budgets are still be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Lex localis-journal of local self-government 2019-07, Vol.17 (3), p.679-696
Main Author: Slijepcevic, Suncana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Averages
Budget deficits
Budgets
Data
Data envelopment analysis
Decentralization
Economic crisis
Economic models
Economics
Efficiency
Expenditures
Government spending
Hospital costs
Local government
Public sector
Public services
Regional differences
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Summary:European countries have been continuously under the pressure to improve public balances and efficiency of public spending. Economic crisis which started during 2007 weakened public finances at the state and local level in countries all over the world. In Croatia local government budgets are still below the pre-crisis level in many local government units. This paper empirically examines efficiency of public expenditures at the regional level. Performance has been investigated by developing a composite indicator of output. Spending efficiency at the regional level was analysed using Data Envelopment Analysis methodology. Results suggest that there are large differences at the regional level in using resources to provide public services. The results show that the local government units in the least efficient county should on average decrease their expenses by 55 percent, while achieving the same performance to become efficient.
ISSN:1581-5374
1581-5374
DOI:10.4335/17.3.679-696(2019)