Includes bibliographical references and index.

Series foreword -- Public sector economics and the need for public sector reforms : taking stock and an introduction to the volume / Apostolis Philippopoulos -- Reforming public service provision : what have we learned? / Peter Birch SÃ̦rensen -- Public wage and employment policy -- Reforming the public sector's wage policy / Pedro Gomes -- Incentives to work and performance in the public sector / George Economides, Apostolis Philippopoulos, and Petros Varthalitis -- The role of international institutions -- World Bank policy lending for public sector reform / Lodewijk Smets -- External constraints matter for privatization / Ilaria Petrarca and Roberto Ricciuti -- Issues in public policy and public finance -- Optimal progressive taxation in a model with endogenous skill supply / Konstantinos Angelopoulos, Stylianos Asimakopoulos, and James Malley -- Measuring public sector performance : a four quadrants model to monitor local governments' efficiency / Francesco Porcelli, Danilo Ballanti, Roberto Dispotico, and Francesco Vidoli -- Fiscal policy sustainability in the euro periphery : a non-linear analysis / Roberto A. De Santis, Gabriella Legrenzi, and Costas Milas -- Contributors -- Index.

Description based on print version record.