Research background: In the last decade, the importance of institutions in determining economic processes and the economic growth is increasingly emphasized. Only a few papers deal with the efficiency of institutions, especially at a local level. Thus, a question arises whether the local authorities, in their pursuit of performing the assigned tasks, make every effort to attain a high level of efficiency? Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper was to determine the relationships between institutional efficiency and identified areas of stability achieved by local governments in their basic roles. Supplementary aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the type of a municipality (urban, rural or mixed urban-rural) and the efficiency and stability of undertaken tasks. A research hypothesis was put forth, assuming that the institutional efficiency of municipal governments depends on the level of stability in basic areas of activity pursued by a given municipality. Supplementary aim of this study was to analyze and assess the relationship between the type of a municipality (urban, rural or mixed urban-rural) and the efficiency and stability of undertaken tasks. Methods: An accumulated synthetic index of institutional efficiency and partial indices of efficiency in five areas: economic and spatial, financial, administrative, human resources management in municipal offices, provision of social, cultural and educational services, were derived from data acquired from public statistics (Local Data Bank) and from direct investigations conducted in 2015/2016 in 1220 municipalities out of 2479 ones present in Poland. The method for obtaining the index was linear ordering of multi-feature objects. Findings & Value added: The analyses have confirmed the hypothesis assuming that there is a relationship between the institutional efficiency of local governments and stability of the tasks they performed. These dependences varied in individual provinces of Poland. It is more beneficial for local governments to raise stability by attaining some improvement in these areas where it is low, but not at the expense of those areas where it is high. A specific group of municipalities consisted of urban-rural communities. Their complex and diverse structure must meet the challenge of performing their tasks in specific conditions (urban and rural areas).

In Poland, responsibility for educational tasks has mainly been delegated to local governments, although the state still plays a decisive role. Municipalities finance these tasks using educational subsidies and targeted grants from the central budget. Because transfers from the state budget cover an ever-decreasing share of the costs of educational tasks, municipalities increasingly need to engage their own resources. Such a situation (due to the limited funds of these units) poses a threat to the proper implementation of other tasks, which may ultimately negatively affect their sustainable development. This study aimed to determine the impact of the financial gap from implementing educational tasks on the sustainable development of communes and cities with county rights. The research primarily employed linear ordering methods and Spearman’s rho correlation. It also employed the nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test and the Page test for trends. This study utilized two types of data: secondary data from Statistics Poland covering 2477 municipalities and primary data collected through a survey of 482 local government representatives. The correlation analysis revealed that sustainable development indicators decreased as the financial gap widened between 2012 and 2022. The highest correlation coefficients were observed in all communes combined and in cities with county rights. The weakest correlations between the financial gap and sustainable development were found in urban municipalities. Representatives of local governments had similar observations. According to 63.1% of respondents, the imbalance between funds transferred from the state budget for educational tasks and the expenditure incurred by the municipality for this purpose negatively affects the sustainable development of local governments.

Research background: The theory of endogenous regional development indicates in par-ticular the role of local authorities in creating the conditions for socio-economic development. Among the factors that shape institutional efficiency of local government, the ones referring to the administrative sphere should be especially analyzed. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper was the assessment of the activities shaping institutional efficiency in the administrative area with respect to the activities pursued by local governments in Poland, and to assess the effects of such activities. The analysis includes activities aimed at streamlining service provision, implementation of a system of self-control of provided services, and measures related to the adjustment of the organizational structure of an office to the implemented tasks. Methods: For the purpose of performing the study a questionnaire was prepared and sent to local authorities in Poland. The research was conducted between 2015 and 2016 on a sample of 1,220 municipalities from 2,479. Identification of activities implemented by local gov-ernments was made on the basis of an analysis of the task implementation index. The evalu-ation of effects of tasks was made on the basis of the values of effect index of implemented tasks. Findings & Value added: Many local governments do not fully apply the available tools that streamline the provision of administrative services. The value of the task performance index had a low average level in Poland (0.42). Representatives of local authorities were convinced of the relatively high efficiency of undertaken activities. The value of the task implementation index in the area of self-control of the provided services remained at the level of 0.48. The average value of effects of activities amounted to 0.55. The average index of task implementation of activities adjusting the organizational structure to the implemented tasks and provided services amounted to 0.64 in Poland.