2015-16 Seminar Series

Evaluating the structural reform of central government departments in Greece

Abstract

The focus of this study is the evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of Central Government Departments (CGDs) in Greece. The measurements obtained were compared with those defined by the Administrative Reform 2013 (AR2013) to assess whether the reforms introduced by the AR2013 to the CGDs attain the objectives of efficiency and effectiveness. The efficiency and effectiveness measurements of 19 CGDs drew on four Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models (i.e. Variable Returns to Scale DEA; Targeted factor-oriented radial DEA; Stochastic DEA; and Quality-driven Efficiency-adjusted DEA). Input orientation was selected for the four DEA models in order to be in line with the objective of the AR2013, which is the decrease in resources and budget utilised by the CGDs. For measuring the efficiency of the 19 CGDs we took into account only endogenous variables, such as the number of general directorates, directorates and sections operating in every CGD, the number of staff, the budget allocated by the Central Government to every CGD and the number of laws produced by every CGD. The measurement of effectiveness drew on the same endogenous variables used for the assessment of efficiency and also on one exogenous variable (i.e. employees’ satisfaction). In this study, effectiveness is defined as referring to the synchronous attainment of efficiency and employees’ satisfaction from the work environment. The analytical methodology presented in this paper does more than merely attempt to defend or argue against the AR2013. It rather provides a concrete analytical framework for evaluating the performance of public organisations across the board, suggesting reforms that promote efficiency and effectiveness, and advance managerial capacity.

Biography

Panagiotis D. Zervopoulos is an Assistant Professor in Quantitative Methods at Bursa Orhangazi University (Turkey). He holds a Ph.D. in Management Science from Panteion University (Greece), an M.Sc. in Management from Lancaster University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Piraeus (Greece). His expertise lies in the areas of efficiency, productivity, performance management, public sector reform and statistics. He has published in Journals such as the European Journal of Operational Research and IMA Journal of Management Mathematics. He has published a book on the Measurement of effectiveness and efficiency of the Greek public administration (Athens, Academy of Athens, 2013). He has served as project manager, co-principal investigator and consultant in four medium- and large-scale projects funded by the European Commission. He has more than six years of work experience in international consulting companies, research centres and European Commission mandated bodies advising national governments and multinational companies. He was research fellow of the China Center for Health Development Studies of Peking University.

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