Finnish Local Government Barometer 2003: Municipal Managers, Chairmen of Municipal Executive Boards

The survey charted the views of Finnish municipal leaders (municipal managers and chairpersons of municipal executive boards) on the welfare state, local services and finance, municipal mergers, and the effect of the European Union enlargement. To begin with, opinions on the characteristics of the welfare state were surveyed. Respondents were then asked whether certain things (racism, pollution, traffic noise, inhabitant attitudes, inequality etc.) were a source of concern in the municipality, and whether they were worried about other issues in general (for example, unemployment, international terrorism, nuclear accident, war). One theme pertained to the ways of improving the financial situation of the municipality. Respondents were asked, for example, whether they would approve of cutting or outsourcing services, reducing staff numbers, or raising taxes. The survey also carried a set of statements relating to municipal mergers, number of municipalities in Finland, municipal taxation and services etc. Respondents were asked which costs to cut if municipalities were forced to reduce expenditure. Views on the effects of the EU enlargement to the region were surveyed. Background variables included the number of inhabitants in the municipality, the respondent's status in municipal administration, gender, political party identification, and the region in which the municipality was located.

本调查绘制了芬兰地方市政领导者（市政经理及市政管理委员会主席）对福利国家、地方服务与财政、市政合并以及欧盟扩大影响的观点概览。首先，调查了受访者对福利国家特性的看法。随后，询问受访者是否认为某些事项（如种族主义、污染、交通噪音、居民态度、不平等等）是市政层面的关注焦点，以及他们是否对其他一般性问题（例如，失业、国际恐怖主义、核事故、战争）感到担忧。其中一主题涉及改善市政财政状况的途径。例如，询问受访者是否赞同削减或外包服务、减少员工人数或提高税率。调查还包含一系列与市政合并、芬兰市政数量、市政税收与服务等相关的陈述。询问受访者若市政被迫削减开支，应削减哪些成本。此外，还调查了受访者对欧盟扩大对该地区影响的观点。背景变量包括市政人口数量、受访者在市政管理中的地位、性别、政党认同以及市政所在地区。