This paper explores the impact of fiscal decentralization on the efficiency of public service delivery. It uses a stochastic frontier method to estimate time-varying efficiency coefficients and analyzes the impact of fiscal decentralization on those efficiency coefficients. The findings indicate...

Public administration and public services, after a slow development and successive layers, from the beginning of the 90s witnessed a significant transformation. The legislation, by choice or necessity,imposed previously unknown areas of competition in the sector. In open markets where entry and...

The paper reviews the main results of a research project on the Mezzogiorno carried out by Bank of Italy in 2008-09 to investigate the chronic relative backwardness of Italy's southern regions. Per capita output in the South is less than 60 per cent of that in the Centre and North; one fifth of...

This study discusses the main problems in assessing overall spending efficiency of local governments and presents an application of non-parametric techniques (DEA) to the activities carried out by Italian municipalities. The analysis relies on a sample of 262 municipalities in the Province of...

Research Highlights and Abstract: The role of the European Union (EU) in services liberalisation-and the impact thereof on the provision of services of general interest-has been highly contentious both globally and in the EU. Besides other policy issues, services liberalisation contributes to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss citizen participation in public service delivery protests in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three local municipalities: Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal. Design/methodology/approach – A structured...

This paper examines the welfare-maximizing degree of patent protection in a growth model where the engines of economic growth are R&D and public services. The result shows that if public services are small, the welfare-maximizing level of patent protection is weaker.

Commercial air transport in rural and remote areas of the United States has a long history. After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, carriers were free to serve any cities and routes they wished. In anticipation of carriers gravitating toward large urban markets, the Essential Air Service...