Regional Public Spending Quality Index, EU

This publication contains the data used in the publication:

Fazekas, M., Czibik, Á. (2021). Measuring Regional Quality of Government: The Public Spending Quality Index Based on Government Contracting Data. Regional Studies. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2021.1902975

Abstract

Government contracting is crucial for defining quality of government and public services as it amounts to about 29% of government spending. However, regional quality of government indicators, especially for public spending, are largely missing. We assess quality of public spending by transparency, competition, efficiency and corruption, using a novel database of 4 million contracts from the EU28 between 2006-2015. We find that public spending quality is associated with GDP/capita, European Quality of Government Index, and public sector meritocracy. We confirm large within-country regional variations, but also find considerable change over time: steady deterioration of performance in old EU member states.

 

Publication in the journal Regional Studies (open access): HERE

Full publication including appendices: HERE

Tableau visualisation of key findings: HERE

 

Data files

Tenders Electronic Daily data, Stata 13 (NUTS2 level, 2006-2015, yearly): HERE

Tenders Electronic Daily data, Stata 13 (NUTS2 level, 2006-2015, all years together): HERE

Tenders Electronic Daily data, Stata 13 (NUTS3 level, 2006-2015, all years together): HERE