The efficiency score as an indicator of the appropriateness of public spending. A pilot study in Italian Metropolitan Cities.

The management of economic and financial resources is a topic of great interest within public administrations. Measuring the efficiency of public resource utilization is complex, as theanalysis of processes through planning, programming, and control systems varies based on the diverse needs of the community. Recently, the concept of public value has led to the development of measurement systems aimed at achieving synthetic values that can guide governance decisions toward the optimal use of resources. The criterion of efficiency in public administrations is more intricate than it may seem, as efficiency has increasingly become synonymous with cost minimization. However, this perspective does not accurately represent efficiency; minimizing costs in the production of an undesired service makes little sense. The notion of efficiency necessitates a relationship between means (inputs) and ends (outputs/outcomes). The goal of this work is to identify the rela-tionships between means and ends to introduce synthetic indicators, or "efficiency scores," for public spending based on the budget data of Italian metropolitan cities over the period 2019-2022. The results provide a new evaluation metric tosupport decision-makers in achieving strategic objectives over time.