Assessing the Performance of Local Government

Philip Stevens

National Institute Economic Review, 2005, vol. 193, issue 1, 90-101

Abstract: We consider the measurement of performance in the public sector in general, focussing on local government and the provision of library services by English local authorities in particular. We will consider two methodologies that assess the performance of local authorities in terms of the efficiency with which they provide services and consider methods that allow us to account for exogenous influences on performance, such as the socio-economic profile of the population served by the authority. We find that although both methods’ results appear similar, the implications for potential cost savings vary widely. Omitting to account for background factors leads to an overstatement of the level of inefficiency and hence the scope for reducing expenditure.

Keywords: local government; efficiency; SFA; DEA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Journal Article: Assessing the Performance of Local Government (2005)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:niesru:v:193:y:2005:i:1:p:90-101

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