Obvious
differences between countries regarding their economic performance have led to
the question whether the size, structure, and organisation of the public sector
contribute to cross-country income levels and growth gaps. Public sector
activities may have an effect on overall productivity and economic growth via
two channels: directly, through the level and changes of productivity within
the public sector, and indirectly, by triggering off productivity changes in
private production. This paper is concerned with the former aspect. It provides
an overview of recent empirical literature on public sector performance and
relates performance to the size and structure of the public sectors in Europe,
the US and Japan. The results are not fully conclusive, but seem to attribute
more efficiency to smaller rather than to larger government sectors. Public
sector reforms aiming to consolidate the size of government are likely to
enhance the sector's own productivity and are thereby prone to contribute
positively to overall economic performance.