Changing Municipalities 1993

The survey charted the situation and the range of activities of Finnish municipalities. Respondents were asked to evaluate the economic situation of their municipality. They also rated the importance of problems pertaining to local politics, municipal administration, municipal economy, local circumstances and relations with central government. They rated the importance of different aspects of Chief Executive Officer's work, such as promoting cooperation between sectors, informing employees, creating new routines, controlling the budget, coordinating actions, and finding out about the views of residents. The survey also canvassed a variety of alternative service production methods that are used or are going to be used in municipalities, and the scale of outsourcing services in different sectors. Alternative methods of service production mentioned included privatization, in-house tendering within the municipality, citizens use vouchers to buy services and can freely choose the service producer, etc. Respondents were also asked why their municipality used alternative service forms and to what extent it supports various organizations that complement or substitute municipal services. They were presented with a set of attitudinal statements about privatization and the impact of using private alternatives in municipal production of services. Respondents were asked to list activities that should be abandoned and activities whose proportion of municipal production of services should be increased. Questions also pertained to international relations (twin municipalities, visits and study trips abroad). Lastly, respondents named foreign and Finnish municipalities which set an example to others. Background variables included type of form, municipality, province, respondent's year of birth, level of education and position in the municipality. There were also group-specific background variables, such as career development, type of employer, experience as an elected official and party preference.