The article "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets", by António Afonso, researcher at UECE and Assistant Professor at ISEG, was accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Economics (2010). The article was co-authored with Ludger Schuknecht (European Central Bank) and Vito Tanzi (Inter-American Development Bank).
This article analyzes the efficiency of the public sector in the new members of the European Union compared to emerging market countries. After a conceptual discussion on ways of measuring the efficiency of public spending, scores and rankings are calculated by applying a set of measurement techniques. The study reveals that the efficiency of public spending among the new members of the European Union is very diverse compared to the group of best-performing emerging countries in Asia. The econometric analysis shows that higher incomes, the competence of civil servants and levels of education, as well as the security of property rights seem to make it easier to avoid inefficiencies in the public sector.
