Public Finance, the Public Sector and the General Government Sector

The aim of this paper is to bring a contribution to the clarification of the terms such as public finance, public sector or government which are widely used in economic analysis or in public finance management. In the Czech environment, those terms are understood differently across statistical, legislative or accounting domains. The paper illustrates a nuanced understanding currently existing. Apart from the illustrations of varying use, the content of terms in question and their mutual relation are explained and analysed from the point of view of a relevant statistical methodology. The paper concludes offering a more robust content of the term "public finance" in relation to the statistical data which are generally used as an illustration of public finance development.