Evaluación de la condición financiera en las administraciones locales a través del análisis de componentes principales

The aim of this paper is to asses Local Governments’ Financial Condition using an indicator that summarizes different elements. Firstly, a factor analysis is used to create a synthetic indicator to asses the financial condition of sample andalusian Local Governments three elements of financial condition —sustanaibility, financial independency and flexibility—, are taken into account to create this synthetic indicator. Secondly, k-means cluster analysis is used for measuring the regional socio-economic variables that affect above local public services provision. This methodology is applied for 1998-2002 period, obtaining a financial condition index (FCI) for each municipality. 126 Jose Luis Zafra, Antonio Manuel Lopez y Agustin Hernandez