The second issue of Public Sector Economic opens with an article by Paolo Liberati, who analyses whether European healthcare systems can be meaningfully grouped into distinct clusters based on institutional characteristics and health outcomes across 26 countries over the period 2001-2021. 

Valentin Lovrić examines how investments in physical and intangible capital affect labour productivity, with a focus on the role of institutional quality. The results suggest a significant positive effect of physical and intangible capital in advanced economies, while in Croatia only physical capital has a significant impact. 

Maja Matanić Vautmans investigates socioeconomic inequalities in formal and informal home care among Europeans aged 65+ using SHARE data from 27 countries. The results show that while health needs are the primary driver of care use, informal care is more common among lower-income groups and formal care is more prevalent among wealthier and better-educated individuals.

Ali Osman Öztop and Tuna Köse examine the effects of net international and internal migration on per capita GDP across Turkey’s 81 provinces using spatial panel models that account for spatial dependence. The results show that net international immigration significantly increases per capita GDP, with highly educated migrants contributing the most, while financial deepening further strengthens regional economic performance.

Hermes Morgavi proposes a new approach to Laffer-curve estimation that combines economic theory, flexible functional forms, and LASSO regularisation. Applied to OECD countries, the model suggests that revenue-maximising tax rates vary widely across countries, reflecting differences in economic structures and institutions. Results show that several countries have limited scope for additional revenue from higher income tax rates and comparatively greater fiscal space in consumption taxation.

This issue concludes with a book review of United Nations World Public Sector Report 2025: Supreme Audit Institutions and the Sustainable Development Goals by Dagmar Radin.

This year, Public Sector Economics celebrates 50 years of continuous publication. The journal publishes theoretical, empirical, and policy-oriented articles in the field of public sector economics, analysing the role and functioning of the public sector at macroeconomic, sectoral, and microeconomic levels, in both developed and emerging markets. It is indexed in relevant international and national databases and ranks among the leading journals in the field of social sciences in Croatia based on content quality, peer-review process, accessibility and visibility to the academic and professional community, and editorial work.