Customer Satisfaction with Branch Office Services in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture

This study empirically investigates the major factors that determine customer satisfaction in local government offices in Japan by using three categories of questions. They referred to customer satisfaction studies worldwide, especially to the expectancy disconfirmation model, the SERVQUAL model, and subsequent methods that emphasize customer’s direct experience. The on-site surveys were conducted at the Kurose branch office in Higashihiroshima City. A total of 240 responses were obtained over six weekdays. The regression analysis showed that staff responses and explanations were the most influential, followed by aspects related to the physical office and service delivery quality (adjusted R2 value of .51).

Financial instruments used by Polish municipalities in response to the first wave of COVID-19

Studies on the influence of COVID-19 on municipalities are scarce, although it was precisely municipalities that stood in the first line of combat. It is important to estimate the negative budgetary consequences of the crisis for municipalities and to detect potential patterns in the application of their anti-crisis financial instruments. Our study reveals that the initial response of Polish municipalities to the pandemic crisis in this area varied depending on their administrative type, the amount of current income per capita and the population size. However, the correlations between the applied income instruments and expenditures and the above factors were rather weak.