1Public Sector Performance: Efficiency or Quality?1

Over the last three decades, in what has become known as the “new public sector”1, services in advanced economies have been reformed to provide better quality, whilst reducing demands on taxpayers. Concepts once belonging almost exclusively to a private sector environment have been transferred to a public sector context, e.g. economy, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, choice and value-for-money. The UK’s New Labour administration has put great emphasis on the provision of public services. A number of influential reports have recently been published in this area and have created a lively response from official bodies and the media. This research article discusses three reports