Foreword to the special issue multidimensional objective functions and institutions: efficiency assessment of public services

Abstract

The role of public administrations as leading agents for the provision of public services has gained increased attention as a result of the economic challenges that followed the economic downturn that hit most countries after 2008. These policy efforts have materialized in economic reforms that condition the funding & performance evaluation of public services. In parallel, scholars & policy observers have fueled the debate on what elements form the objective function of public service providers as well as on how to model the technology of public services for evaluation purposes. These concerns have become evident in the approach adopted by many academic studies dealing with efficiency assessments in a number of public services (e.g. education, health care, local governments).