The Influence of Excellence on Municipal Performance: Quasi-Experimental Evidence From the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article examines the impact of excellence-promoting policies on the actual performance of municipalities in the Czech Republic. In this analysis, the performance of municipalities that have received awards for the use of quality management tools is compared with a selected group of municipalities that did not receive awards. Data envelopment analysis (DEA; with constant and variable returns on the scale), free disposal hull (FDH), and Order-M methods were utilized to represent performance. For the actual performance comparison, a quasi-experimental design was used. The analysis of outputs using the difference impact method found that this specific public policy did not have a positive impact on the efficiency of municipalities. If the difference-in-differences method is used, the opposite is achieved. However, the technical efficiency gains are very small. The use of the quasi-experimental design along with the determination of inputs and outputs which are characteristic of the Czech Republic also offers a contribution when this method is being applied to the assessment of institutions in the form of local governments.