Standard spending needs of municipalities, a crucial aspect of fiscal federalism, should be computed under some conditions: that municipalities have the same efficiency, that citizens have the same preferences, and, especially, that local governments are equal with regard to some «non...

In this paper we show how both the choice of specific constraints on output weights (in accordance with health care policy-makers' preferences) and the consideration of exogenous variables outside the control of hospital management (and linked to past policy-makers' decisions) can affect the...

In a recent article published in this journal, Henry Hansmann deals with the quality of higher education of the Italian university system. In this paper we reconsider Hansmann's proposals by taking into account the Italian institutional framework and the recent normative innovations. At present,...