This is an evaluation study which examines the financing process through which Finnish enterprises apply and receive business subsidies from the central government. It examines comprehensively the three entities involved when this type of state aid is distributed in Finland, namely the applicant...

This paper is a survey which describes and explains in non-technical terms the logic behind various methodologies used in conducting retrospective quantitative evaluations of public policy programs. The programs usually have as their main targets firms or individuals who benefit from direct...

This study examines the impact of business subsidies on beneficiary and non-beneficiary firms during a short three year period, from 1995 to 1997. The indicator measuring the impact of subsidies on these firms is their Value Added growth over the three-year period. The study is based on...

This paper investigates the effects of business subsidies on the employment of firms in Finland, and explores possible regional differences in the effects. Employment of some 26,000 firms is followed annually between 1995-1998. We find that labour subsidies increase the firms' own employment...

This paper surveys evaluation studies of business subsidy programs conducted in Finland and abroad. The aim is to assess the evaluation methods applied and then recommend the most appropriate ones applicable in Finland. In the paper twenty seven studies are analysed; eighteen using Finnish data...

This paper presents a survey of the studies that have investigated productivity and efficiency in the Finnish public sector. The paper outlines methods that have been used in these studies and presents summaries of main finding. In addition suggestions and reflections on how to take quality into...

Previous empirical studies have found a positive relationship between the size of legislature and the size of government. Those studies, however, do not adequately address the concerns of endogeneity. In contrast, this paper uses variation in legislature size induced by statutory council size...

This paper examines the Granger causality between total expenditures, own source revenues, grants received from the State and long-term loans for 12 subgroups of Finnish municipalities. Two panel data sets that cover the years 1985-1992 and 1993-1999 are used in order to compare the effect of...