L’orientamento al valore pubblico degli enti locali minori. Una verifica empirica relativa ai comuni liguri

The literature on public value identifies six relevant and interdependent dimensions: stakeholders, social/economic/environmental well-being domains, enabling factors, strategic and operational objectives with related performance, risks, and available resources. This paper tests the applicability of such dimensions to municipalities of medium and small size, using Liguria as a regional case study. The research is based on the analysis of the planning and control documents published on municipal websites as of 28th February 2026. The empirical analysis develops in two stages: first, it verifies whether municipalities explicitly declare a public value orientation; second, for the fully documented cases, it assesses the degree of conformity with the six dimensions of public value and the coherence between planning and control documents. The findings show a sharp divide between larger and smaller municipalities. The six dimensions of public value remain relevant even for smaller municipalities, but their effective adoption requires proportionate, modular and capacity-dependent application.