Sport as a Public Service: Equity and Efficiency of Local Sport Facilities

Title: Sport as a Public Service: Equity and Efficiency of Local Sport Facilities In the Czech Republic, clubs traditionally played a key role in providing sport facilities. In recent years, the role of local authorities in sport has strengthened. Hence, there have been changes in the management of sport facilities in the context of new trends in public administration and sport participation. The thesis analyzes and evaluates current modes of provision of public sport facilities as the consequence of these changes. The examined issue is narrowed down to the two theoretical concepts - sport equity and efficiency of sport facilities. These are perceived as a part of the performance of sport facilities (see Liu et al., 2009 or Kung and Taylor, 2010). The first part of the thesis aims to test the effect of different forms of management of sports facilities on the sport equity score in the framework of institutional analysis (Houlihan, 2005). On the basis of the original instrument for measuring of sport equity, the survey is carried out. The research sample (N = 193) is made up by the municipalities with extended powers, except for regional cities and Prague. The second part of the thesis has the character of an action research. The author evaluates the application of the NBS: Financial questionnaire..