Slovak Journal of Public Policy and Public Administration

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AUDITS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Lenka Hudáková Stašová — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The feedback supreme audit institutions (SAI) provide from their audits of public funds and property owned by the national and local governments is critical to the audited governments and public authorities, while also important information for both the professional and general public. The article seeks to assess the performance of the SAIs in the Visegrád Four (V4) countries by evaluating hypotheses that assess the effectiveness of the audits they conduct. Data for the analysis came from annual reports of the institutions and interviews conducted with their staff. The evaluation covers sixteen years (2005-2020) and the five hypotheses established in this article were assessed using the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. In general, a conclusion could be drawn from the analysis that the volume of new audit findings was not influenced by the number of audits from previous years or the number of recommendations made therein. On the other hand, the relationship between the number of audits conducted and the number of criminal complaints filed was seen as statistically significant. The public sector works slightly differently in all countries, but the SAI needs to be able to identify and point out the most significant systemic issues concerning the various areas of the state economy.

COMPARISON OF TAX BURDEN INDICATORS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA

Jarmila Rybová, Štěpánka Kameníková — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The article focuses on the comparison of the tax systems of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the period 2017-2020. First, it deals with a brief description of the basic parameters of Czech and Slovak taxes, which also include contributions to social security and health insurance. In the next section, there are selected indicators of taxation. These indicators are implicit tax rates on consumption, labour, and capital, effective tax rates, tax mix, and tax quota, and on the other hand, the standard of living is presented by the indicator of gross domestic product per inhabitant in purchasing power parity. By evaluating the selected indicators, it was found that the tax burden in the Czech Republic is higher than in Slovakia, although the tax quota indicator indicates the opposite. It can be stated that it is appropriate to use more indicators to assess the tax burden.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION – COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN TRANSPORT REFORMS: A CASE STUDY OF BELGRADE

Aleksandar Kovačević — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The ubiquity of the Information – Communication Technology – ICT has sparked significant interest in smart city initiatives. Smart transportation systems are integral to this concept. Our research explores its potential impact on transportation enhancements, notably in Belgrade. The central research question revolves around whether employing ICT in transportation can effectively address Belgrade's transportation challenges. Our study focuses on relevant scientific literature in areas like local democracy, public policy, and public administration about smart cities. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, we draw on insights from various disciplines, employing fundamental scientific methods including literature reviews, case studies, and comparative analyses. Our research begins with a descriptive analysis of prominent global smart city projects, particularly emphasizing transportation improvements. We explore intelligent transportation systems and their implementations in cities like Copenhagen, Vienna, and Barcelona. The data we gather forms the basis for crafting an intelligent transportation policy and instigating reforms in Belgrade, charting past and future transportation changes.

SQUATTING AS A MODEL OF HOUSING FOR VULNERABLE AND NEGLECTED POPULATION

Snezana Djordjevic — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The main topic of the paper is squatting as a model of housing. It has appeared and developed in times of great housing availability for vulnerable populations. The topic belongs to the housing policy research field and represents neglected and „forgotten“themes, which in our neoliberal world of rising social inequities, starts again to be important. Research methods are: in view in the literature, case studies (cities like London - UK, Madrid, Barcelona – Spain, and Amsterdam - Netherlands) and comparative method with generalization (learning from these experiences) for tailoring housing policy, sensible to vulnerable population`s needs. The main research findings are that squatting put a different (rather radical) light on the „right to housing“ as a prerequisite for a decent quality of life for each person and society too.

BELAÏD, F., ARORA, A., EDS. (2023). SMART CITIES: SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Andrej Kóňa — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100