Analyzing Forces to the Financial Contribution of Local Governments to Sustainable Development

In many countries, the economic crisis brought high volumes of deficit and debt in public entities, which jeopardized the ability of governments to continue providing public services and caused considerable imbalances of economic growth in different regions. In this context, from the recognition of the linkage between economic development and efficiency in public management, previous research indicates that local governments are called to play a key role in promoting sustainable development through environment, economic and social policies based on financial sustainability of the public services. This paper aims to identify influencing factors on the financial sustainability of local governments, as an indicator of their capacity to maintain the delivery of public services over time. Based on a sample of 139 Spanish municipalities with large population for the period 2006–2014, our findings reveal the influence of variables such as the unemployment rate by sector, the dependent population, the immigrant population and the level of education of the population, on the financial sustainability in local governments, providing new useful knowledge to managers, policymakers, researchers and others stakeholders interested in the sustainability of public services.