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This paper aims to identify what productivity means in the public sector, how it is measured and how it should be measured and improved, according to municipal authorities in managerial positions.

The approach is both theoretical and empirical. The first part is a literature review of research concerning public sector productivity. The second part presents findings of empirical research that is based on interviews and workshops with municipal authorities representing: special healthcare services; basic healthcare and social services, and educational services. The research was carried out in the Päijät‐Häme region, Finland.

According to the results, there is a certain mismatch between perceptions concerning productivity and the potential that lies in this concept as a functional tool in the public sector's development efforts. Public sector productivity cannot be developed and discussed without taking into consideration the issue of effectiveness.

Deeper common understanding concerning productivity and effectiveness and their measurement are likely to facilitate municipal decision making and service processes in individual workplaces as well as within and among different spheres of authority – and thus facilitate mutual learning.

This paper contributes to development and application of productivity and effectiveness thinking in the public sector. It is linked to service excellence, performance measurement and management systems, creativity in process delivery and deployment of improvement techniques in the public sector. It is of interest both to researchers and practitioners.

The paper aims to identify what productivity means in the public sector, how it is measured and how it should be measured and improved, according to municipal authorities in managerial positions.

The approach is both theoretical and empirical. The first part is a literature review of research concerning public sector productivity. The second part presents findings of empirical research that is based on interviews and workshops with municipal authorities representing: special healthcare services; basic healthcare and social services; and educational services. The research has been carried out in the Päijät‐Häme region, Finland.

According to the results, there is a certain mismatch between perceptions concerning productivity and the potential that lies in this concept as a functional tool in the public sector's development efforts. Public sector productivity cannot be developed and discussed without taking into consideration the issue of effectiveness.

Deeper common understanding concerning productivity and effectiveness and their measurement is likely to facilitate municipal decision making and service processes in individual workplaces as well as within and among different spheres of authority – and thus facilitate mutual learning.

The paper contributes to development and application of productivity and effectiveness thinking in the public sector. It is linked to service excellence, performance measurement and management systems, creativity in process delivery and deployment of improvement techniques in the public sector. It is of interest both to researchers and to practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of rural warehouses condominiums (or “condos”) as new rural configurations in the Brazilian agribusiness from the perspective of the theory of collective action.

A systematic literature review was complemented with multiple case studies based on interviews and direct observation. Content analysis was used to interpret the secondary and primary data.

Rural warehouse condos can be characterized as a collective action which is a new business model in Brazilian agribusiness. This new initiative has several advantages: reduction of the warehouse deficit and other logistical bottlenecks; strategic commercialization of production; reduction of logistical costs; inclusion of smallholders in the economy and, consequently, the generation of income for smallholders and their participation in the market.

The study used a qualitative approach and findings and discussion are inherently interpretative.

Understanding the organization of rural warehouse condos supports the inclusion of smallholding farmers and income generation. This creates a social benefit through rural growth and economic development. Some constraints related to the lack of public policies, specific credit lines in financial institutions, the problem of non-regularized rural areas, lack of transparency and conflicts among the members can limit expansion.

Rural warehouse condos are expanding mainly in the south region of Brazil, where smallholders are concentrated. In this new configuration, they can engage in an association to obtain several benefits, such as reduced logistics costs, better access to financing and increased bargaining power with suppliers. As this research dealt with a relatively new and poorly studied topic, it contributes to the development of new studies to map innovative warehousing practices.