Usługi publiczne w samorządach krajów Europy Środkowej w warunkach zmian demograficznych - wyzwania wobec ilościowych badań ekonomicznych

Demographic pressures across Central Europe strongly impact the public service sector in regions and municipalities. Setting the evidence-based systems that would support policy making in this context are of a great importance for all levels of governance, from the EU institutions to local governments. The paper presents a methodological approach to comparative studies concerning economics of public service (social care, healthcare, housing, public transport, roads, water and sewage treatment) in Central Europe. Several known approaches to this kind of studies fail due to different contextual and statistical systems. Alternative approach, based upon microeconomic data is proposed.