General information
Code: V5-2289
Period: 1.10.2022 - 30.9.2023
Range on year: 0.05 FTE | 2022
Project leader at FDV: prof.dr. Irena Bačlija Brajnik
Research activity: Social sciences
Abstract
Coherent socio-economic development in the country is emphasized in many strategic documents of the Republic of Slovenia, including the Local Government Development Strategy until 2020. In the absence of the second level of local self-governments, public policy makers must fort he purpose of monitoring the level of socio-economic development observe development at the LAU (Local autonomy unit; see also the definition of EUROSTAT), which in the case of Slovenia is a municipality. Coherent development of municipalities is a desirable but hard to obtain goal, as municipalities are very different (in size, inclusion of the urban center, proximity to the border with another country, natural resources, pollution, etc.). In order to balance these differences, public policy makers, in addition to other fiscal measures, introduced a mechanism for measuring the development of the municipality with so called coefficient of development of the municipality. The indicators currently used by the state to calculate the coefficient are: gross value added of companies per employee, personal income tax base per capita, number of jobs per working population of the municipality, aging index of the population, registered unemployment rate, employment rate in the municipality , supply of goods and services of public utility services (level of connection to the public sewerage network by agglomerations), equipment with cultural infrastructure (cultural monuments and public cultural infrastructure facilities), share of Natura 2000 sites in the municipality and settlement of the municipality. The development coefficient is a criterion for co-financing investments of municipalities from the state budget. This means that the more developed the municipality, the smaller the share of financial resources will be allocated to the municipality by the state.
As the quality of data for the preparation of public policy is of key importance for public policy-makers, the actual reflection of development expressed in terms of the coefficient of development of the municipality is very important. First, it must provide a comprehensive picture of the economic situation and quality of life in municipalities, which makes it possible to assess whether economic growth also means better non-economic results (in terms of health, environmental quality, education, etc.). Namely, spatial concentration shows advantages and disadvantages, where economies of scale can show a high level of economic prosperity, but a low level of quality of life. Second, measuring socio-economic conditions can raise public awareness of public policy objectives and encourage policy change and increase the accountability of local authorities. Knowledge of local conditions can also help policy makers to identify potential synergies between different dimensions.
Many countries (including Poland, Italy, Portugal) measure the level of development of local communities, but most research and models are designed for the regional level. In order to use the development measurement at the municipal level, such indicators need to be adjusted more extensively. Composite indicators are the most suitable for such measurements, as they are especially useful for monitoring multidimensional phenomena and have been widely used to assess the performance of territorial units in various fields due to the aggregation of primary indicators. The main advantage of composite indicators is their ability to integrate large amounts of information into easily understandable formats useful for analytical and policy purposes (OECD, 2003). Composite indicators thus simplify the analysis of complex phenomena, especially those relating to objective estimates of multidimensional phenomena. From a territorial point of view, composite indicators are particularly attractive in the sense that they make it possible to classify the performance of territorial units and assess changes over time.
The phases of the project and their realization
Work program and timeline:
The work program contains the following activities:
- Creation of a theoretical framework that provides a basis for the selection and combination of variables into a meaningful composite indicator in accordance with the appropriateness for the purpose of observation.
- Creating a meta-analysis of all possible indicators and creating a SWOT analysis.
- Evaluation of valid indicators for determining the development of municipalities, as contained in the Regulation on the methodology for determining the development of municipalities (for the years 2022 and 2023).
- Review of the quality of available data. On the basis of regularly updated publicly available databases (EUROSTAT; SURS; MF; MJU; ILO) we will check the existence of indicators or their substitutes when the calculated correlations are significantly different.
- Data selection based on analytical robustness, measurability, country coverage and relevance of indicators to the phenomenon being measured.
- Preparation of a set of control variables.
- Preparation of composite indicators, and calculations of which of the indicators possibly measure similar content (regression). It is a test of the quality of composite indicators, which will thus prove to show more accurately the actual state of development of the municipality.
- Removal of missing data, examination of the entire structure of the data set, assessment of their relevance (weighting, grouping).
- Normalization of variables and weighting.
- Carrying out a sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of the composite indicator in terms of e.g. mechanism for inclusion or exclusion of indicators, normalization, elimination of missing data, selection of weights, method of grouping.
- Visualization of results, when we use graphics to display results that will help users (public-political decision-makers).
The work program was implemented in three phases, according to the following timeline:
1.) In the first phase, the phase of meta-analysis of indicators, an analysis of primary and secondary scientific literature was carried out, as well as an analysis of foreign existing indicators and indices used to measure the development of municipalities (and other local self-governing communities). We evaluated the valid indicators for determining the development of municipalities, as contained in the Regulation on the methodology for determining the development of municipalities (for the years 2022 and 2023), and argued which should be retained in the new index and which should be replaced. In this phase, a thorough review and set of all possible indicators is carried out and a SWOT analysis is prepared.
2.) In the second phase, a review of the quality of the available data was carried out. On the basis of publicly available databases that are regularly updated (EUROSTAT; SURS; MF; MJU; ILO) we checked the existence of indicators or their substitutes when the calculated correlations were significantly different.
3.) In the third phase, composite indicators were prepared, and calculations of which of the indicators possibly measure similar content (regression). It is a test of the quality of composite indicators, which have been proven to show more accurately the actual state of development of the municipality.
Research Organisation
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/19985
Researchers
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/19985
Citations for bibliographic records
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/19985
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