Public Sector Achievement in 36 Countries

Public sector achievement in 36 countries A comparative assessment of inputs, outputs and outcomes Public sector achievement in 36 countries Public sector achievement in 36 countries A comparative assessment of inputs, outputs and outcomes Editor Benedikt Goderis Contributors Andries van den Broek, Simone Croezen, Benedikt Goderis, Marietta Haffner, Pepijn van Houwelingen, Sjoerd Kooiker, Lonneke van Noije, Evert Pommer, Lisa Putman, Michiel Ras, Annet Tiessen-Raaphorst, Ab van der Torre, Debbie Verbeek- Oudijk, Cok Vrooman and Isolde Woittiez The Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp The Hague, December 2015 The Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp was established by Royal Decree of March 30, 1973 with the following terms of reference: a to carry out research designed to produce a coherent picture of the state of social and cultural welfare in the Netherlands and likely developments in this area; b to contribute to the appropriate selection of policy objectives and to provide an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the various means of achieving those ends; c to seek information on the way in which interdepartmental policy on social and cultural welfare is implemented with a view to assessing its implementation. The work of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research focuses especially on problems coming under the responsibility of more than one Ministry. As Coordinating Minister for social and cultural welfare, the Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport is responsible for the policies pursued by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research. With regard to the main lines of such policies the Minister consults the Ministers of General Affairs; Security and Justice; the Interior and Kingdom Relations; Education, Culture and Science; Finance; Infrastructure and the Environment; Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation; and Social Affairs and Employment. Distribution outside the Netherlands and Belgium: Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick (usa). © The Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp, The Hague 2015 scp-publication 2015-33 Editing: Julian Ross, Carlisle, uk Graphic design: bureau Stijlzorg, Utrecht Figures: bureau Stijlzorg, Utrecht / With Lisa Dalhuijsen, The Hague dtp: Textcetera, The Hague isbn 978 90 377 0741 0 The Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp Rijnstraat 50 2515 xp Den Haag Tel. +31 70 340 70 00 Website: www.scp.nl E-mail: [email protected] The authors of scp publications can be contacted by e-mail via the scp website. Content Foreword 9 0 Summary 11 References 28 Part i Introduction 1 Framework, scope and structure of this report 31 1.1 Conceptual framework 33 1.2 Central research questions 36 1.3 Our selection of sectors, countries and indicators 36 1.4 Structure of the remainder of this study 38 References 40 Part ii Detailed analyses 2 Education 43 2.1 Outcomes 45 2.2 Inputs 62 2.3 Outputs 65 2.4 Explaining student test scores 73 2.5 Citizens’ perceptions of the quality of the education sector 86 2.6 Conclusion 87 References 89 3 Health 93 3.1 Introduction 93 3.2 Outcomes 96 3.3 Inputs 104 3.4 Outputs 112 3.5 Explaining differences in outcomes 118 3.6 Citizens’ perceptions of the quality of the health care sector 123 3.7 Conclusion 126 References 127 Part iii Basic analyses 4 Social safety 133 4.1 Introduction 133 4.2 Strategies for crime prevention 138 4.3 Outcome: recorded crime rates 148 4.4 Risk factors for crime 159 4.5 Interpreting crime rates 162 4.6 Citizens’ perceptions of social safety policy 178 4.7 Conclusion 181 References 183 5 Housing 187 5.1 Tenure patterns 190 5.2 Outcomes 194 5.3 Inputs 206 5.4 Outputs 207 5.5 Explaining differences in outcomes 210 5.6 Citizens’ perceptions of the quality of social housing 214 5.7 Conclusion 216 References 218 6 Social security 221 6.1 Historical roots of and institutional variety in social security 224 6.2 Outcomes 227 6.3 Inputs 240 6.4 Outputs 244 6.5 Explaining the differences 250 6.6 Conclusion 252 References 252 7 Public administration 255 7.1 Why good governance? 255 7.2 Definition and functions of public administration 255 7.3 Outcomes of public administration performance 259 7.4 Input: money and manpower 275 7.5 Interpreting differences in outcomes 281 7.6 Citizens’ perceptions of the quality of the public administration 298 7.7 Conclusions and discussion 300 References 302 Part iv Preliminary analysis 8 A first inventory of three other sectors 307 8.1 Introduction 307 8.2 Economic affairs and infrastructure 308 8.3 Environmental protection 313 8.4 Sport, culture and participation 320 References 329 Part v Synthesis 9 Some general patterns in outcomes 333 9.1 Constructing outcome indices to measure the performance of regions and countries 333 9.2 Comparing the performance of regions and countries within each sector and across sectors 335 Appendix 343 Publications of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp in English 345 Appendices (can be accessed online at www.scp.nl/english/publications on the page dedicated to this publication) Appendix chapter 2 Education Appendix chapter 3 Health Appendix chapter 5 Housing Appendix chapter 6 Social security Foreword Many Western societies are currently faced with the pressure of population ageing and increased take-up of expensive public sector provisions such as pensions, health care and long-term care. As a result, governments are increasingly having to prioritise or find ways to make their public sector more efficient. At the same time, countries differ greatly in the way they have organised their public sectors. Against this background, it is useful to compare the performance of countries across the various parts of the public sector and to assess how this performance has changed in recent years. That is what this report aims to do. More specifically, the report examines inputs, outputs and outcomes of the public sector in 36 countries: all current 28 eu Member States plus Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States. It covers the period from 1995 to 2012 inclusive and includes separate chapters on education, health, social safety, housing, social security and public administration, and a combined chapter in which three additional sectors are studied more generally. This report is the third edition in a series, following earlier reports in 2004 and 2012. It has been compiled in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and we would like to express our thanks to Herma Kuperus and Frans van Dongen for their support. We are also grateful to the other members of the Supervisory Committee – Dr Arjan Lejour, Prof. Jaap Dronkers, Prof. Jos Blank and Prof. Steven Van de Walle – for their constructive comments on the draft versions of the report. In addition, thanks are due to experts from various government ministries (in particular Marcel Einerhand, Michael van den Berg and Peter Achterberg) for their useful comments, and to Dr Marietta Haffnertu ( Delft) who co-authored the chapter on housing. This report could not have been written without the availability of international comparative data. Wide use has been made of databases compiled by international organisations, especially Eurostat, the eu Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (eu-silc), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (unodc) and the World Bank. The results of this report are intended to serve as input for the Dutch Presi- dency of the European Union in the first half of 2016. However, I also hope the report will be of interest to policymakers and to the public more generally. Professor Kim Putters Director, The Netherlands Institute for Social Research | scp 9 Summary 0 Benedikt Goderis A brief history of this series During the Dutch Presidency of the European Union in 2004, the Nether- lands Institute for Social Research | scp conducted a major international comparative study of the performance of the public sector in various countries (Kuhry 2004). A second edition in this series was published in 2012 (Jonker 2012). The present 2015 report constitutes the third edition and is intended for use as input for the Dutch Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2016. The report partly updates the previous edition, but also broadens and deepens the approach by expanding the number of countries studied, extending the number of sectors that are studied in detail, and devoting more attention to explaining differences across countries and over time. Motivation for this study A comparison of modern welfare states reveals similarities but also vast differences in terms of objectives, coverage, depth and institutional design (Esping-Andersen 1990, Vrooman 2009). These differences make it particu- larly interesting to compare public sector outcomes between countries and over time. How much have countries achieved relative to their peers? Has their performance improved or worsened in recent years? Addressing these questions is important, and even more so given the concerns about the sustainability of welfare states in the light of ageing populations and a larger take-up of welfare state programmes such as pensions, health and long-term care. The recent global financial crisis has, if anything, further added to these concerns. Framework and scope Inputs, outputs and outcomes of the public sector form the core of this study. The public sector provides inputs, such as spending on schools, that are used to produce outputs, such as the enrolment of children in schools. More output should then result in better outcomes, such as improved cogni- 1 tive skills of children, as reflected in better test scores. Throughout this study, the country name ‘Korea’ This study examines inputs, outputs and outcomes of the public sector refers to the Republic of Korea (as opposed to in 36 countries: all current 28 eu Member States plus Australia, Canada, the Democratic People’s Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States.1 Republic of Korea).

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