Spending Differentials at Ministry Level : An Exploratory Analysis

The study verify quantitatively the composition and the dynamics of spending Central State (ministry level), in the 2010-2012 period. They were investigated the operating expenses and the expenses for interventions-investments. The goal is to see if the spending review undermines the effectiveness (impact on the country) and the efficiency (ratio of interventions-investments to operating costs) of the ministerial action. In the 2010-2012 period the total value of the two clusters (operating expenses, interventions-investments expenses) fell by 10 billion euro. However, the cut do little to spending operations: in 12 of 13 ministries this type of cost increases the share of the total, and in 6 of 13 represents the largest portion (in 5 exceed 50%). The cut is in fact almost all charged to the users: 9,2 billion euro are retrieved from the interventions-investments cluster. Using the shift-&-share method, 8 ministries out of 13 are "structurally virtuous", since their overall spending is reduced with a higher intensity (or increases at a lower intensity) than it is for the entire spending of the central administration . Negative notes come from the specific evaluation: in 12 ministries out of 13 the operating expenses decrease less intensely (or increase more intensively) than it is for the entire expense of the individual ministry. The ministries don't seem efficients: in 5 of them to produce 1 euro of interventions-investments it costs more than 1 euro in terms of operational cost. A high quotient works in two other ministries: 80 cents of operating to produce 1 euro of interventions-investment. In 12 ministries out of 13 the efficiency ratio tends to worsen. In relation to the effectiveness of ministerial expenses, the analysis is limited to 5 ministries (defense, finance, justice, interior, education) because for them the target of spending is clear; for these ministries it is possible to determine the per capita expenditure (for justice the target are the lawsuits pending, for the other 4 the target are the residents). The data are very clear: the intervention-investment per capita is reduced in all 5 cases, albeit to varying degrees. We are not sure if this will diminish the effectiveness of ministerial action, but in any case it is highly probable