Assessing public spending in terms of respect for economic, social and cultural rights

Abstract

Economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) are materialised through public goods and services, which are produced and provided, respectively, through public expenditures. The public expenditures with an impact on respecting ESCR are evaluated through the prism of basic objectives of public financial management, namely the following: maintaining strict financial discipline, allocating public financial resources in conformity with government’s priorities, efficient provision of public services. From the theoretical-scientific perspective, the research has been done in the context of a complex and systematic approach to modern economic and social concepts. The complexity of social, economic and financial phenomena, which have been studied, necessitated the use of statistical methods, in particular the correlation and simple regression analysis. At the same time, the comparative analysis was used for the same purpose. The central public administration and local public administrations from the Republic of Moldova are relatively more successful in consolidating fiscal discipline than in providing the efficient use of public expenditure in conformity with strategic priorities. The research argues a positive effect which can be made by improvement of public expenditure management on respecting ESCR in the Republic of Moldova.