THE PERFORMANCE PARADOX IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN EU MEMBER STATES. KEY FACTS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to investigate to what extent public strategies and specific key performance indicators (KPI) explain differences regarding achieved public performance across European Union (EU) member countries. It is supposed that after almost twenty years, the organizational renewal of public administration should improve countries that are faced with low customer satisfaction, tight fiscal space and administrative constraints and achieve stability, distribution, and economic performance. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the need of developing systems capable to handle contested and multiple performance indicators, striking a balance in the degree of ‘measure pressure’ and minimizing dysfunctional effects.

Keywords

• performance management;
• public administration;
• performance indicators;