Abstract

Based on international comparative data, the paper highlights different ways in which the efficiency and effectiveness of the Italian public administration lags behind that of other major European countries at the present time. Applying a computation scheme available in the literature, the paper examines to what extent in the 1980-2014 period the performance and efficiency of the public sector in Italy differed from those of France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. The analysis shows that, in spite of some major administrative reforms, far from diminishing, the distance between Italy and the other countries has stayed basically the same, or in some cases has even increased. Aside from the impact of organizational or normative factors, the paper hints at some specific cultural and behavioural elements, which may account for this persisting outcome.