Efficiency in the Public Sector

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Kevin J. Fox

      Pages 1-7

3. Issues in Public Sector Efficiency Evaluation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

      PDF

   2. Performance Assessment in the Public Sector

      • C. A. Knox Lovell

      Pages 11-35

   3. Why Have the Returns to Microeconomic Reform been so Disappointing?

      • John Quiggin

      Pages 37-60

   4. Performance Measurement and Resource Allocation

      • Suthathip Yaisawarng

      Pages 61-81

   5. A Property-Rights Perspective of Efficiency: Privatizing the Commons

      • R. Quentin Grafton, Dale Squires

      Pages 83-100

4. Efficiency Analysis in the Public Sector — Advances in Theory and Practice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101

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   2. The Deadweight Costs of Capital Taxation in Australia

      • W. Erwin Diewert, Denis Lawrence

      Pages 103-167

   3. A Comparison of Alternative Productivity Growth Measures: With Application to Electricity Generation

      • Tim Coelli

      Pages 169-200

   4. Integrating Consumer Satisfaction into Productivity Indexes

      • Rolf Färe, Shawna Grosskopf, Pontus Roos

      Pages 201-217

   5. Productive Structure and Efficiency of Public Hospitals

      • Catherine J. Morrison Paul

      Pages 219-248

   6. Measuring Output of Hospital Services

      • Pontus Roos

      Pages 249-271

   7. Efficiency in the Provision of Municipal Nursing- and Home-Care Services: The Norwegian Experience

      • Espen Erlandsen, Finn R. Førsund

      Pages 273-300

5. Back Matter

   Pages 301-302

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Regardless of where we live, the management of the public sector impacts on our lives. Hence, we all have an interest, one way or another, in the achievement of efficiency and productivity improvements in the activities of the public sector. For a government agency that provides a public service, striving for unreasonable benchmark targets for efficiency may lead to a deterioration of service quality, along with an increase in stress and job dissatisfaction for public sector employees. Slack performance targets may lead to gross inefficiency, poor quality of service, and low self-esteem for employees. In the case of regulation, inappropriate policies can lead to unprecedented disasters. Examples include the decimation of fish stocks through mismanagement of fisheries, and power blackouts through inappropriate restrictions on electricity generators and distributors. Efficient taxation policies minimise the tax bill for citizens.
In all of these cases, efficient management is required, although it is often unclear how to assess this efficiency. In this volume, several authors consider various aspects and contexts of performance measurement. Hence, this volume represents a unique collection of advances in efficiency assessment for the public sector by leading researchers in the field.
Efficiency in the Public Sector is divided into two sections. The first is titled "Issues in Public Sector Efficiency Evaluation" and comprises of chapters 1-4. The second section is titled "Efficiency Analysis in the Public Sector - Advances in Theory and Practice." This division is somewhat arbitrary, in the sense there are significant overlapping themes in both sections. However, it serves to separate chapters that can be characterised as dealing with broader issues (Section I), from chapters that can be characterised as focusing on specific theoretical problems and empirical cases (Section II).

• Public Sector
• calculus
• management
• performance
• productivity

• University of New South Wales, Australia

  Kevin J. Fox

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