Measuring municipal performance: from the perspective of the public value theory

The article intends to present the results of a research carried out with four municipalities, Brazilian and Italian, comparing the respective ways of using multidimensional performance measurement systems (MPMS’s) from the perspective of the Theory of public value creation. Public value means the value created for society by an organization. The subjects covered are presented in the respective literature review. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether municipality halls, by the use of MPMS’s, are able to evidence the public value created. It is a descriptive study, based on comparative research of multiple case studies. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews, and their quantitative analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics, using the “R” software, calculating Pearson's linear correlation coefficient, and subsequently, the level of significance. The research illustrates a widespread use of MPMS’s in the four prefectures and shows similarities in some critical factors that can influence such measurement. On the other hand, it highlights the superficial implementation of these systems. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that MPMS’s, in the way they are used, do not show the value created by prefectures from the perspective of the Theory of creating public value. At the end, the conclusions and restrictions of the study are presented, as well as recommendations for future research.