A comparative analysis of public spending in the municipal sphere of government/Uma analise comparativa dos gastos publicos na esfera municipal de governo

With the financial crisis in Europe, it is well known that the eurozone is among the regions that stand out as being most affected, mainly Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece. In Portugal, the financial crisis has generated enormous concern about the efficiency of public spending, not only by the government, but by society as a whole. In this way, an understanding of efficiency in public management is indispensable. It is known that several elements can, in a combined way, determine the efficiency of entities, including public ones. This article seeks to examine the relationship that may exist between the municipal dimension and efficiency in public management in Portugal. To this end, a dimension indicator was constructed, after the values found in these indicators were related to the efficiencies measured by the work of Araujo Neto et al (2013). The research is justified given the importance of finding out about ways of encouraging public policies that improve efficiency in the public sector.