Expenditure Effects of Intergovernmental Transfers – the Case of Slovenia

The purpose of this paper is to provide the evidence on the "stickiness" of intergovernmental transfers. Namely, intergovernmental transfers have fiscal (expenditure) effects as they stimulate provision of local government goods and services, and this expenditure effect should be larger for the matching grants and smaller for lump-sum transfers. It is also expected that this effect would be larger than the equivalent increase in local income, prediction labelled as fly-paper effect when related to lump-sum transfers. Empirical research for Slovenian municipalities provides the evidence that the magnitude of expenditure effects of various categories of intergovernmental transfers is substantially lower compared to international findings, and in some cases the effect is even smaller than the effect of per-capita income

DEMAND AND SUPPLY SIDE VIEW ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING SIZE OF THE NON-PROFIT ECONOMY

This paper empirically investigates various factors affecting variations in the size of the non-profit sector by using cross-country data in the sample of selected countries. Namely, the available data on sector employment (workforce) indicate substantial variations in the size of the sector among countries, although certain problems exist with the measurement of the sector size, whicha are mostly related to its diversity. The existing literature can provide several theories, hypotheses and concepts that could potentially help to explain those differences; the outcome of those approaches is the extrapolation of various demand and supply side factors that affect cross-country differences in the size of the sector. The exploratory approach taken in the paper is focused on combining the effect of those factors for the purpose of their empirical verification. The results indicate that supply side factors tend to be more important in explaining differences in the size of the sector among countries

Regulatory activities of government: analysis of determinants

International comparisons show that large cross-country differences exist in the overall macro extent of regulation of the economy. In this context, the main purpose of the article is to investigate, why such differences exist by identifying and empirically verifying the effect of various factors that could potentially shape those differences. Empirical analysis based on the sample of 32 developed and democratic countries revealed that almost 70 % of variation in the macro extent of regulation could be explained with 7 statistically significant explanatory variables. The econometric analysis revealed that the macro extent of regulation decreases with income inequality in society, with the level of economic development, with the sizeof economy, with the share of transfer spending in GDP and with the share of government employment in labour force. On the other hand, the extent of regulation is positively related to government ownership of enterprises and to presidential political regim

Regulativne djelatnosti vlade: analiza čimbenika

International comparisons show that large cross-country differences exist in the overall macro extent of regulation of the economy. In this context, the main purpose of the article is to investigate, why such differences exist by identifying and empirically verifying the effect of various factors that could potentially shape those differences. Empirical analysis based on the sample of 32 developed and democratic countries revealed that almost 70 % of variation in the macro extent of regulation could be explained with 7 statistically significant explanatory variables. The econometric analysis revealed that the macro extent of regulation decreases with income inequality in society, with the level of economic development, with the size of economy, with the share of transfer spending in GDP and with the share of government employment in labour force. On the other hand, the extent of regulation is positively related to government ownership of enterprises and to presidential political regime.Raspoloživi podaci pokazuju velike razlike u opsegu regulacije gospodarstva među državama. Svrha članka jest utvrditi zašto takve razlike postoje. To znači da je svrha analize predstavljene u članku identifikacija i empirijska provjera učinka različitih čimbenika na razlike u opsegu regulacije. Rezultati ekonometrijske analize temeljene na uzorku 32 razvijenih i demokratskih država pokazuju da 7 statističko signifikantnih odrednica omogućava objašnjavanje gotovo 70 % varijacije u opsegu regulacije gospodarstva među državama. Analiza pokazuje da je opseg regulacije gospodarstva u negativnoj relaciji sa stopom društvene nejednakosti, stopom gospodarskog razvitka, veličinom države, opsegom vladinih transfernih rashoda i opsegom zapošljavanja u vladinom sektoru. Nadalje, rezultati pokazuju da je opseg regulacije gospodarstva u pozitivnoj relaciji s opsegom vladina vlastništva poduzeća i predsjedničkog političkog sustava

Expenditure Effects of Intergovernmental Transfers – the Case of Slovenia

The purpose of this paper is to provide the evidence on the "stickiness" of intergovernmental transfers. Namely, intergovernmental transfers have fiscal (expenditure) effects as they stimulate provision of local government goods and services, and this expenditure effect should be larger for the matching grants and smaller for lump-sum transfers. It is also expected that this effect would be larger than the equivalent increase in local income, prediction labelled as fly-paper effect when related to lump-sum transfers. Empirical research for Slovenian municipalities provides the evidence that the magnitude of expenditure effects of various categories of intergovernmental transfers is substantially lower compared to international findings, and in some cases the effect is even smaller than the effect of per-capita income

Regulativne djelatnosti vlade: analiza čimbenika

International comparisons show that large cross-country differences exist in the overall macro extent of regulation of the economy. In this context, the main purpose of the article is to investigate, why such differences exist by identifying and empirically verifying the effect of various factors that could potentially shape those differences. Empirical analysis based on the sample of 32 developed and democratic countries revealed that almost 70 % of variation in the macro extent of regulation could be explained with 7 statistically significant explanatory variables. The econometric analysis revealed that the macro extent of regulation decreases with income inequality in society, with the level of economic development, with the size of economy, with the share of transfer spending in GDP and with the share of government employment in labour force. On the other hand, the extent of regulation is positively related to government ownership of enterprises and to presidential political regime.Raspoloživi podaci pokazuju velike razlike u opsegu regulacije gospodarstva među državama. Svrha članka jest utvrditi zašto takve razlike postoje. To znači da je svrha analize predstavljene u članku identifikacija i empirijska provjera učinka različitih čimbenika na razlike u opsegu regulacije. Rezultati ekonometrijske analize temeljene na uzorku 32 razvijenih i demokratskih država pokazuju da 7 statističko signifikantnih odrednica omogućava objašnjavanje gotovo 70 % varijacije u opsegu regulacije gospodarstva među državama. Analiza pokazuje da je opseg regulacije gospodarstva u negativnoj relaciji sa stopom društvene nejednakosti, stopom gospodarskog razvitka, veličinom države, opsegom vladinih transfernih rashoda i opsegom zapošljavanja u vladinom sektoru. Nadalje, rezultati pokazuju da je opseg regulacije gospodarstva u pozitivnoj relaciji s opsegom vladina vlastništva poduzeća i predsjedničkog političkog sustava

Expenditure Effects of Intergovernmental Transfers – the Case of Slovenia

The purpose of this paper is to provide the evidence on the "stickiness" of intergovernmental transfers. Namely, intergovernmental transfers have fiscal (expenditure) effects as they stimulate provision of local government goods and services, and this expenditure effect should be larger for the matching grants and smaller for lump-sum transfers. It is also expected that this effect would be larger than the equivalent increase in local income, prediction labelled as fly-paper effect when related to lump-sum transfers. Empirical research for Slovenian municipalities provides the evidence that the magnitude of expenditure effects of various categories of intergovernmental transfers is substantially lower compared to international findings, and in some cases the effect is even smaller than the effect of per-capita income

Size and Development of the Third Sector: An Insight Into Cross-Country Differences

Non-profit or third sector is a very diverse sector and its socio-economic importance is rising in modern societies, although the way in which this sector is operating is changing dramatically, causing that dividing lines with for-profit and government sector are blurring. Nevertheless, quite substantial differences can be observed in the development and relative size of non-profit sector across countries, several factors potentially contributing to those differences. Consequently, the purpose of the paper is to theoretically and empirically investigate the effect of governmental interventionism, level of economic development and extent of societal heterogeneity on the variations in the size of the non-profit sector across countries, since theory predicts certain macro relations between those variables. Furthermore, the paper tries to address certain limitation and pitfalls of the development of non-profit sector in the future, predominantly related to increased pressures for commercialisation and performance orientation

Smart city label: past, present, and future

Koncept ili oznaka pametnog grada postala je sve popularnija u znanstvenoj literaturi, kao i u kreiranju suvremene urbane politike, gdje se popularizira u svrhu rješavanja složenih urbanih problema. Ovaj rad usredotočuje se na pregled postojeće literature o ovom konceptu uz primjenu pristupa analize kodiranja sadržaja. Istraživanjem se potvrđuje da se u zadnje vrijeme ovaj koncept popularizira, te preuzima (i zamjenjuje) ulogu nekih starih pojmova, što bi se djelomično moglo pripisati njegovoj terminološkoj neutralnosti i širem sadržaju koji pokušava obuhvatiti. Međutim, glavni praktični poticaj za njegov rast popularnosti može se pripisati tehnološkom zamahu. Sve veći broj istraživanja ovog područja djelomično odražava i dostupnost sredstava za istraživanje, što ukazuje da je istraživanje pametnih gradova također temeljeno na politici. Slijedeći ovaj trend, ne treba zanemariti potencijal za nastajanje novih oznaka gradova u budućnosti.Smart city concept or label has become increasingly popular in scientific literature as well as in contemporary urban policy-making, where it has been popularized for the purpose of solving complex urban problems. This paper focuses on the review of the existing literature on this concept, following mainly manifest content analysis approach. The scrutinisation process reveals that this concept has been indeed popularized recently, overtaking (and substituting) some more older concepts, which could be partly contributed to its terminological neutrality and broader content that it tries to address. However, the main practical impetus for the growth of popularity can be attributed to the technology push. The increase in the volume of research partially also reflects the availability of research funds, thus indicating that smart city investigation is also policy-driven topic. Following a trajectory, a potential for the new city label emergence in the future should not be disregarded

The evidence on the existence of economies Of scale in local government units

The purpose of this paper is to empirically verify if the possible existence of scale economies actually supports the argument that municipal consolidation is needed in Slovenia. The major reform of local self-government in Slovenia was implemented in 1994, when the transformation of existing 58 »communal« municipalities was envisaged. From 1995 onwards, the number of municipalities increased to the current number of 212 municipalities. Consequently, the necessity to implement structural reforms of local self-government in Slovenia has been stressed. The arguments favoring municipal amalgamations stressed that country has become too fragmented and municipal amalgamation would enable the reduction of (administrative) costs, and increase efficiency as well as quality of services provided, indicating that technical aspects of local government operation are targeted. Following, technical efficiency of Slovenian municipalities is estimated with the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, in order to determine if (and which) municipalities are experiencing increasing returns to scale (i.e., scale economies). The results indicate that there is important scale efficiency component, and predominantly very small municipalities are experiencing economies of scale, but their number is relatively low. Therefore, one of the classical arguments for municipal amalgamation, achieving economies of scale, can only be applied at a limited scale. This does not imply that more extensive amalgamation is not warranted, but it demands that other arguments justifying municipal amalgamation should be presented.   Keywords: Local government, municipal consolidation, scale economies, DEA, Sloveni