Study title

Finnish Local Government Barometer 2005: Municipal Managers

Dataset ID Number

FSD2235

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2235

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Foundation for Municipal Development

Abstract

The survey focused on the project to restructure local government and local government services in Finland. Municipal managers were asked a number of questions relating to the restructuring project and its potential consequences. Opinions on the best option for a new local government model were charted. One question explored whether the present municipality structure, merged municipalities or regional areas would be the best basis for providing particular services (child day care, education, care of the elderly, primary health care, library services etc.), and who should provide these services (the municipality itself or private service providers).

Municipal managers were asked for which services the citizens themselves should carry a larger financial or operational responsibility, and which services should be the organized by the central government instead of local government. They were also asked to what extent they agreed with a number of statements relating to municipalities (e.g. everyone who wants can influence decisions in his/her municipality of residence, my municipality should be merged with the neighbouring municipality or municipalities, it is better to raise municipal taxes than cut services). Views were probed on whether the municipal services had improved, got worse or stayed the same over the past two years, and what strategies would be acceptable for improving the finances of the municipality. Finally, the respondents were asked how many municipalities there should be in Finland.

Background variables included the region in which the municipality was located, number of inhabitants, R’s gender and political party identification.

Keywords

administrative areas; local finance; local government; local government organizations; local government policy; local government services; mayors; municipalities; objectives; political parties; privatization; social systems

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government Barometers

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• TNS Gallup Finland

Data Producers

• Foundation for Municipal Development

Time Period Covered

2005

Collection Dates

2005-09-16 – 2005-10-28

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Managers (chief administrators) of Finnish municipalities (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

55.2

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Foundation for Municipal Development: Finnish Local Government Barometer 2005: Municipal Managers [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-24). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2235

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Kansalaismielipide ja kunnat : ilmapuntari 2005 (2005). Helsinki : Kunnallisalan kehittämissäätiö. - (Polemia-sarja; 60).

Related Publications

Kansalaismielipide ja kunnat: ilmapuntari 2005 (2005). Helsinki: Kunnallisalan kehittämissäätiö. Polemia-sarja; 60.

Kallio, Johanna & Niemelä, Mikko (2008). Kuntalaisten ja kunnan viranhaltijoiden asennoituminen kuntien väliseen yhteistyöhön hyvinvointipalvelujen tuottamisessa. Kunnallistieteellinen aikakauskirja 36(3), 260-273.

Katara, Henna-Riikka (2012). Hyvinvointivaltion kannatus ja palvelujärjestelmä. Kuntalaisten ja kunnanjohtajien mielipiteiden vertailua vuosina 1996-2006. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Sosiaalipolitiikan pro gradu -tutkielma