Volume 12 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

The aim of this paper is to compare the results of 4 selected audit areas of the SAO, namely audits carried out in the domain of the state budget revenues, state property, state-owned enterprises and state funds. The hypothesis is that the findings of audits on the revenue side of the state budget have resulted in the largest number of legislative changes within the period under review. As part of the assessment of the development of the impact of the SAO activity measured by the number of government-imposed corrective measures, it was also found that the benefits of audit findings have increased and their usability has risen noticeably since 2005. By analysing the selected audit areas, the first established hypothesis was confirmed when it was found that the largest number of legislative changes was made in the area of the state budget revenues. In this domain, areas of system failures and implementations of the imposed recommendations were analysed additionally, with the aim to uncover the most problematic areas and to assess the overall implementation of the imposed recommendations. The hypothesis in this respect was that the recommended remedies were mostly met. Within the area of the state budget revenues, based on the publicly available information and the auditees’ opinions it was found out that most of the recommendations were met. The second hypothesis was met, as well. The presented paper analyses both the government’s resolutions, audit findings and conclusions, annual reports, EU reports, and selected views of the auditees. Within the audit areas, the number of submitted criminal notifications and notifications to the tax authority is also quantified. The usefulness of the results is based on the fact that the audits in the assessed areas were focused on the audit of legality with elements of the performance audit, though the best results in the domain of legality were brought by audits in the area of the state budget revenues. In this domain, it is therefore appropriate to focus more on the audit issues related to legality, as evidenced by the number of corrective measures in which the government has imposed a legislated solution to the given issue. Conversely, for audits of state assets (the remaining three groups), it would make more sense to strengthen the focus of these audits on the performance-related risks (the so-called 3E).

Many studies analyse factors (such as corruption, competitiveness, transaction costs), which are influencing public procurement efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to find out, what the main factors are in Slovakia that are influencing public procurement efficiency, and based on our analysis, we will also estimate what is the impact of each factor on the efficiency of public procurement in Slovakia.

The research for this paper was executed in three stages. We began with a small number of face-to-face in-depth interviews with specialist procurement advisors to contracting authorities. In the second stage, we created draft questionnaires for contracting authorities and for suppliers, and once we tested questionnaires, it was sent to 13,571 suppliers and to 4,300 contracting authorities. In the last stage, we used various types of analyses to examine identified factors.

There is significant agreement between suppliers and contractors that the two main factors causing inefficiencies are excessive bureaucracy and corruption or other ethical shortcomings. It is shown that insufficient competition, and the excessive use of the lowest price criterion for selecting winning bids, add further inefficiencies. Savings are greatest when there are between 6 and 8 bidders. E-auctions generally produce larger savings than more traditional methods, but Slovak procurement procedures are costly, compared to most other EU states.

This paper contributes to the understanding of what are the core factors which may influence public procurement efficiency. It also provides valuable information for government officials on how to change public procurement rules in order to achieve higher efficiency.

Dissatisfied public employees put at risk the quality of service delivery. Th is study investigates pay dissatisfaction among a sample (N=501) of municipal employees in Russia’s Stavropol region. We find that pay dissatisfaction results from negative perceptions of public employment compensation, low levels of risk aversion, unethical professional attitudes, and more than 4 years of working experience. Our findings suggest that municipal employees are sensitive to multiple wage gaps within the public sector, and that upward pay comparisons are a relevant predictor of dissatisfaction with pay. We conclude that widespread pay dissatisfaction poses a serious threat to the implementation of federal programs and sustainable rural development in Russia.

The role of local government units and the level of fiscal autonomy are the main drivers of local development activities in countries. The aim of this paper is to measure the level of fiscal autonomy of large cities that have been identified as conductors of local development activities in three Southeastern European (SEE) countries, namely Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to compare the level of fiscal autonomy between large cities and other remaining local units in the respective countries. The results of the research measured by the index of fiscal autonomy and compared with the index of fiscal autonomy of all remaining local government units in each of these countries indicate limited fiscal autonomy. Th is research provides new scientific evidence and fills the gap regarding the level of fiscal autonomy of large cities to improve and increase their budget capacity.

Using European Union funds involves a complex process; Member States must adhere to wide-ranging EU and domestic legislation, non-compliance can lead to irregularities. Besides accordance with the letter of the law, also the general EU budgetary principles, in particular sound financial management, must be given full consideration. The paper presents Hungary’s evolving approach to handling irregularities and her experience in creating the corresponding legal and institutional framework. The research also assesses how the perspective of the European Commission, in particular of its auditors, has contributed to legal uncertainties.

In the draft legislation for the 2021 – 2027 budgetary period, the European Commission proposes a new requirement, namely the rule of law conditionality.³ Its clarity and objectivity, however, are still being widely discussed. Additionally, cohesion policy conditionalities have always contained an obligation for the proper functioning of the institutions – including the courts. Nonetheless, the European Commission has not previously examined the performance of the courts in relation to proceeding irregularity and recovery disputes. The presented Hungarian case study not only explains the particular challenges that call for revisiting the appeal system in Hungary; it warns of the general difficulties Member States may face when embedding the irregularity and recovery management functions into their national legislation, whereas the paper also gives notice to the long-awaited analysis of the root problems invoking irregularities.

This article deals with the analysis of the impact of fiscal rules on financial management within the higher self-governing units of the Slovak Republic. For this analysis, unique data from 2002 – 2016 has been used. The quantitative analysis is complemented by a questionnaire survey and a structured interview of respondents who are responsible for controlling the financial management of higher territorial units. This analysis has shown the positive effect of fiscal rules on regional economics, but also revealed shortcomings that prevent the full use of fiscal rules in Slovakia. Th is is primarily due to incomplete and formal implementation, the interests of local elites, and a lack of coordination of activities with the central government.

Because of its capacity to facilitate consensus, trust in government is vital to the functioning of democracies. And yet those interested in the concept continue to struggle with the sheer number and ambiguity of available definitions. This paper confronts theoretical notions of trust with available empirical evidence, and ultimately defines “trust in government” as the willingness to bear the immediate or expected material and ideological costs that arise from compliance with government action. This definition is useful because it keeps up with recent empirical findings, involves a particular channel of effect, and distinguishes trust in government from the positive perceptions and attitudes which are commonly confused with trust.

In recent decades, the neoliberal education policy has been implemented in many countries, by reducing the state’s role in education management. Lithuania is one of the countries which after the restoration of Independence in 1991 and collapse of the Soviet Union has decentralized its education management system by giving more autonomy to schools and local authorities. Education-management reforms, which have already been implemented or are currently being implemented in response to social, economic and political changes in the country, have an impact on relationships between schools. Purpose: This article reports the findings of a study which reviewed education management reforms aimed at increasing school autonomy and their impact on inter-school collaboration and competition. Research Method: This study employs a qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews. Twenty-four elementary and secondary school principals from different regions of Lithuania were interviewed. Findings: The results reveal that a significant influence on relations between schools comes from government decisions which relate to school autonomy, school choice, allocation of funds, school ranking, and the like. Implications: This study generates discussions on the impact of the education management reforms which aim to enhance school autonomy on inter-school relationships. In order to answer that question, a theoretical model of research was developed, including the theoretical basis of school autonomy, collaboration and competition, as well as the characteristics of Lithuanian education governance.

It is well-known that health-care systems all over the world try to improve efficiency and effectiveness due to high pressure to pursue rational performance. Many of the health-care reforms in different countries are conducted with the objectives to rationalise costs, to make health services more available, and to increase, or at least not to reduce, the quality of health services. Adequate efficient metrics used in assessing health-care services are critical for the quality of decision-making. The subject of this research is efficiency measurement in the institutes of public health in Croatia oriented to preventive activities, i.e. monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of the health of the population. Diversity of the programmes and temporal variability are the characteristics of public health services, and it is therefore harder to measure the effects in the long run. This research aims to analyse and propose a new approach to the measurement system using two methods: the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Balanced Score Card (BSC), combined into the DEABSC integrative model, which can be an efficient method for the decision-making process. The starting point of this research is the analysis of the measurement system in public-health services in Croatia. The results confirm a weak and inadequate efficiency measurement system and very low effectiveness measurement. To enhance the efficiency measurement, we have developed the conceptual integrative DEABSC model which has been tested at the Teaching Institute of Public Health – the Department of Health Ecology. Using DEA for 2017, we have identified relatively efficient units that helped establish future goals set in the BSC strategic map. The combination of DEA and BSC allows identifying options for improving the effectiveness of public-health service programmes. The study confirms that it is possible to determine the relative efficiency of different DMUs within the Department of Health Ecology and use best practice for each perspective in the BSC Cause & Effect conceptual model. This paper also provides recommendations for an easier establishment of performance measurement in order to achieve the mission of public health institutions, but also indicates some limitations in the application of the methods.