THE VALUE OF SERVICES SUPPLIED BY THE NEW-ZEALAND GOVERNMENT

A sample of 563 New Zealanders rated the perceived value of 27 services currently funded by the New Zealand government. Although there were substantial individual differences between respondents in their ratings, these differences were only poorly accounted for by demographic variables. In general, the services were rated highly but average rated values of the services and actual expenditure on them were only moderately correlated, and there were relatively expensive services which were not rated very highly. Various reasons for the continued provision of such services in a democracy are suggested.