Abstract
The definition of public finance developed in Chapter 1 made clear that public finance is not only spent on public services. It is also often used to subsidise private sector outputs, for example agricultural production, coal and steel. Moreover, public finance is not the sole source of finance used to support public sector services, private finance being an integral part of public-private partnerships for example. Furthermore, what services constitute the public sector varies between countries. Therefore, public finance is not synonymous with the public sector and it should not be taken for granted that the current system of public finance in any one country is necessarily the most efficacious means of spending public money.
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Further Reading
Bailey, S. J. (1999) Local Government Economics: Principles and Practice (Basingstoke: Macmillan –— now Palgrave Macmillan). [Chapters 3 and 4 on exit and voice; Chapter 9 on intergovernmental grants; Chapters 13 and 14 on quality of service].
Bailey. S. J. (2002) Public Sector Economics: Theory, Policy and Practice (second edition) (Basingstoke: Palgrave–now Palgrave Macmillan) [Chapter 15 on evidence that competition achieves substantial cost savings].
HM Treasury (1988) Policy Evaluation: A Guide for Managers (London: HMSO).
Pearce, G. and Martin, S. (1996) ‘The Measurement of Additionality: Grasping the Slippery Eel’ Local Government Studies vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 78–92.
Rose, R. (1984) Do Parties Make a Difference? (London: Macmillan–now Palgrave Macmillan).
Van Beers, C. and de Moor, A. (2001) Public Subsidies and Policy Failures: How Subsidies Distort the Natural Environment, Equity and Trade and How to Reform Them (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).
Walsh, K., Deakin, N., Smith, P., Spurgeon, P. and Thomas, N. (1997) Contracting for Change: Contracts in Health, Social Care and Other Local Government Services (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
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© 2004 Stephen J. Bailey
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Bailey, S.J. (2004). Spending Public Finance. In: Strategic Public Finance. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4394-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4394-1_4
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