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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance pp 1–9Cite as

Local Government Benchmarking

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Synonyms

Comparison; Indicators; Measurement; Monitoring; Municipal performance

Definition

Benchmarking is the systematic comparison of certain performance measures with predefined reference levels, aiming at continuous improvement.

Introduction

The various facets of “measurement,” “comparison,” “evaluation,” and “monitoring” of government performance stubbornly continue to be topics of international relevance. Within this context, debates focusing on the subnational level of governance have been claiming more and more space in the academic and policy arenas. The extra attention given to the “local” is easier to explain. The decisions and actions of local executives have a very real and immediate impact on people’s lives. Local governments are the closest link to the State for the majority of the world population. They are responsible for crucial policy sectors such as spatial planning, transport, and utility services and are also the enablers of many social and cultural activities...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

    Nuno F. da Cruz

Authors
  1. Nuno F. da Cruz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nuno F. da Cruz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Cite this entry

da Cruz, N.F. (2016). Local Government Benchmarking. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2329-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2329-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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