Portuguese local government’s typology of tourism policy tools: how many clusters?

The evolution of Public Policy, in general, and tools approach, in particular, has recognized a wide range of policy tools, beyond the traditional direct provision. In fact, such development has enabled the design of several public policy typologies, in specific the Weimer and Vining’s typology, which is one of the most important and comprehensive in classifying governments interventions to solve market failures. Based on market failures theory and the tools approach, this research extends their analysis to the context of tourism providing a broader typology of policy tools specifically aimed at tourism policy at the local level. In this sense, the design a typology of tourism policy tools represents the main goal and the original contribution of this research. Given this goal, we defined a multi-methods research plan, using questionnaires and interviews as data collection techniques. Particularly, based on information gathered from interviews, we created and apply a questionnaire to the 308 Portuguese municipalities. This empirical analysis uses a representative sample of 214 Portuguese municipalities and the cluster analysis technique to classify the tourism policy tools used by Portuguese municipalities. The main results suggest a strong alignment with Weimer and Vining’s typology but at the same time the existence of particular situations in Portuguese municipalities demanding the extension of this typology. Besides the many policy options, the intervention by Portuguese municipalities in tourism relies predominantly in the use of direct provision. For many municipalities, the direct provision cluster represents the main set of policy tools employed to solve tourism market failures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Falhas de Mercado na Atividade Turística: Uma Análise Exploratória da Atuação dos Municípios Portugueses

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of Portuguese municipalities interventions to solve tourism market failures (public goods, externalities, natural monopolies and asymmetric information). With this purpose, and considering the use of interviews as data collection technique, a case study with five municipalities are carefully examined. The results suggest that Portuguese municipalities used the most policy tools identified in state of the art to mitigate the tourism market failures. Additionally, the results also suggest that Portuguese municipalities increases policy tools to typology specifically aimed at tourism policy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tourism policy instruments: an empirical analysis of Portuguese local governments

Is quite acceptable that tourism activity is intensely subject to market failures and, naturally, requires government intervention. At the same time, it’s points out that government intervention is another source of policy failure. Attending this situation, we investigate the importance of public policy instruments in Public Administration field, as a new approach to solving public problems related with market failures, while considering possible negative impacts of the intervention itself. These public policy instruments have been applied to several issues, including tourism policy. In this sense, we intend with this work to examine the tourism policy instruments applied to the Portuguese municipalities context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tourism policy instruments: an empirical analysis of Portuguese local governments

Is quite acceptable that tourism activity is intensely subject to market failures and, naturally, requires government intervention. At the same time, it’s points out that government intervention is another source of policy failure. Attending this situation, we investigate the importance of public policy instruments in Public Administration field, as a new approach to solving public problems related with market failures, while considering possible negative impacts of the intervention itself. These public policy instruments have been applied to several issues, including tourism policy. In this sense, we intend with this work to examine the tourism policy instruments applied to the Portuguese municipalities context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of fiscal decisions on local elections: an exploratory study of Portugal

The analysis of fiscal performance is a hot topic either to policy makers or researchers and fiscal discipline is a key value in public finance management at the national and local levels. This growing attention to discipline may be explained with fiscal crisis and strict resource limitations, since in the three last decades a large part of those governments had high and persistent deficits and public debt. Fiscal performance may also be an instrument that voters considered at the ballots. Elections are the main accountability instrument, used by voters to evaluate the incumbent’s performance. Voters elected the incumbents if they consider satisfactory their performance; or otherwise they elect opponent candidates. The objective of this paper is to analyze relationship between several dimensions of fiscal performance and the probability of incumbent re-election, focusing on 2005 municipal elections. Based on public finance and public choice literatures we test some well-known hypothesis such as fiscal illusion and fiscal conservatism of voters

Trends of fiscal centralization: Portuguese local government reform

The crisis of the sovereign debt forced Portuguese government to reach out for joint financial help form the IMF (International Monetary Fund), EU (European Union) and ECB (European Central Bank). In the financial agreement terms, IMF/EU/ECB stressed the need of a major redefinition of the local government organization. Nowadays, Portuguese local government is structured in 308 municipalities and 4259 parishes both with elected officials and administrative, financial and patrimonial autonomy. So, Portuguese government was asked to present a consolidation plan to reorganize local entities enhancing service delivery, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The main argument used is that excessive territorial and fiscal fragmentation undermines efficiency. This research seeks to measure the impact of territorial and fiscal fragmentation in local government spending. We begin by looking into Tiebout’s (1956) argument that an optimal level of local expenditures can be defined based on a consumer-voter preference towards public goods and taxation. Then we counterpoin with the opposite argument, used by international agencies, that, bought territorial and fiscal, centralization can produce economies of scale, reduce overlaps, control free riders and promote better accountability (Hendrick et al. 2011) The main objective of the paper is to test the competitive hypothesis that fragmentation/centralization induces higher spending in local government. To test this hypothesis we use a quantitative approach collecting primary financial data assembled from all Portuguese local government. We defined as a dependent variable, the amount of money transferred to parishes in each local government. Then, we use administrative fragmentation index in local government as indicators to measure territorial and population level of fragmentation. With the results of the paper, we hope to contribute to some clarification in the literature about fragmentation and federalist strategies to improve financial sustainability

Local governments budgeting: a portuguese analysis of central dependency

The most recently challenges in Public Management are felt in several countries, which lead to the appearance of a set of innovative initiatives in the field of the Public Administration. This concept, more or less global (kellt, 2001), of administrative reform is known as the New Public Management and appears with the goal to improve the efficiency, the effectiveness and citizen satisfaction in public services. Is mainly based in the introduction of market type mechanism and the adoption of private management tools. It promotes the competition between public and private agents in order to succeed an improvement in service quality, at the same time that it reduces production costs (Hartley, Butler e Benington, 2002, p. 388). According to NPM models presented by Ferlie, Ashburner, Fitzgerald e Pettigrew (1996) that takes into account that there isn’t a clear definition of what it’s the NPN, the agenda of administrative reform in Portugal, is base on the two first’s models. It’s settled in politic of budgetary restriction, decentralization and atomization of Public Administration. Although it’s autonomy, the local governance also is affected by theses options of Central Administration. If in the countries of Anglo-Saxon origin, the model of reform of local power, it’s based in the adoptions of specific programs of management as the Compulsory Competitive Tendering, o Best Value, in Portugal the reality is different. The administrative modernization was made mainly by changes in the administrative organization and in the transfer of power between the different levels of Portuguese Public Administration, rather than by the implementation of specific management programs of modernization. This is due to the classic/continental administrative model which still is the Portuguese administrative mainframe. Reforms nowadays are still being implemented through financial legislation as a way of Central Administration spread reforms ideology to Local Governments. The local administration stars to win relative importance after 24 of April of 1974. This level of administration is characterized by autonomy and decentralization principles. Actually, this local power is guide by a new law of local financial. It’s relevant to analyse and debate the consequence of this new law and understand it’s proposed in a NPM reform context. This paper is based on a Master project and it seeks this objectives. This constitutes a challenge to analyse in comparison with the others the degree of bigger centrality and/or autonomy that the same ones reflected

Too many policy options, not enough diversity? A typology of tourism policy tools

The design a typology of policy tools specifically aimed at tourism policy at the local level represents the main goal and the original contribution of this paper. Based on market failures theory and the tools approach, we analyze the Weimer and Vining’s original typology supplemented by an empirical analysis of tourism policy tools adopted by local governments in Portugal. This empirical analysis uses a representative sample of 214 Portuguese local governments. The results suggest an alignment with Weimer and Vining’s original typology but also the existence of specific situations in Portuguese local governments requiring the expansion of this typology. Besides that, the intervention by Portuguese local governments in tourism relies primarily in the use of direct provision. For most municipalities, direct provision is still the main, sometimes the only, set of policy tools employed when addressing tourism market failures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Do tourism policy tools boost local tourism development? The case of Portuguese municipalities

Based on market failures theory and the tools approach, this research extends the analysis of local governments intervention in tourism activity, exploring the relationship between tourism policy tools and the development of local tourism (Duncan, 1995; Cooper & Flehr, 2006; Blake & Sinclair, 2007). The engagement of the public sector in the development of tourist destinations is seen as understandable, in particular, the case of local initiatives aiming at the mitigation of tourism market failures (Elliott, 2002; Pearce, 2011). The goal of this research is to identify which tourism policy tools provide the greatest contribution to the development of local tourism in Portuguese municipalities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CAF’s implementation by Portuguese municipalities

In 1980´s, the theme of quality integrated the concerns of the public sector and Portugal didn’t remain alien, assuming a paradigm change: from bureaucratic and centralized administration to a service administration, decentralized and oriented to total quality. Among various approaches, the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) stood out. It is a European model that assesses organizational performance, with reference to the Principles of Excellence and focused on continuous improvement. In addition to being free, it is specific for the public sector and is implemented in Portuguese local authorities. It is important to reinstate CAF to analyse the results obtained by Portuguese municipalities CAF users and find out how these results and subsequent impacts interact and determine quality enhancement of organizations. Accordingly, the research question was: What is the impact of CAF implementation on the quality of public services provision by Portuguese municipalities? The main general objectives are based on the verification of the following: the effectiveness of CAF implementation; the level of integration of the CAF model (nine criteria of the model and eight Principles of Excellence); the results achieved and the perceived impacts through the implementation of the CAF; and the contribution of the CAF model in the perception of the overall quality improvement achieved. The research strategy underlies a naturalistic paradigm, adopting a qualitative approach through semi structured interviews with those in charge for quality in the Portuguese municipalities CAF users (in 2018), adequate to obtain data on the reality of municipal quality. In this context, and after assessing the impacts achieved by the Portuguese municipalities through CAF’s users, confirming the theoretical assumptions, it was possible to achieve the seven objectives previously formulated and to execute the initial research question. Actually, the implementation of the CAF has an impact on the quality of the public services provision by the Portuguese municipalities, highlighting the following evidences: CAF is mainly located throughout the municipal organization and in full; as results obtained via CAF stand out the actions and improvement plans, good practices, citizen/customer satisfaction and stakeholder satisfaction, continuous improvement and a quality assessment and measurement system; about the impacts achieved through CAF they emerge in the achieved results, in the improvement of the quality in the organizations, in the change of culture of the public sector centred on the citizen and towards the excellence, as TQM tool facilitator, in the practices of bench learning and benchmarking, however, the sustainable improvement of the organization and the CAF as a bridge between quality management models did not have the same unanimity; finally, the implementation of CAF model’s requirements contributed to the improvement of the overall quality achieved in a large majority of Portuguese municipalities. Despite the difficulties experienced, concerning the scarce existing research about CAF’s impacts and the compression of the number of municipalities under study, it has been shown that - for the first time and from the present perspective - CAF contributes to the set of results and impacts listed in the revisited theory and with this study they were validated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio