Evaluation of Indicators of Public Administration in EU Countries by Use of Multidimensional Analysis

Abstract

The paper evaluates public administration from the viewpoint of selected indicators focused on the quality of government, corruption rate, e-public services and finance (government expenditures on public administration). The research covers the period 2012-2018 for the selected set of 28 EU countries and applies factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results of the factor analysis showed that three economically developed countries, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, attained the best results of public administration. By contrast, countries with the worst total results of public administration and a low economic level are Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland. Based on the evaluation of common indicators of public administration (performance of public administration and expenditures on public administration) using hierarchical cluster analysis, the EU countries were divided into four clusters by their internal similarity. The largest similarity in the performance of public administration is seen in two groups of countries, i.e. 16 countries. The largest similarity by government expenditures on public administration is seen in the countries in the second and fourth cluster, i.e. 17 countries. Following the analysed public administration indicators, the results also showed a link to traditional models of public administration in the majority of similar countries. This fact supports the specific features of administrative systems and the role related to management and evaluation of public administration.