The determinants of efficiency in municipal governments

[journal article]

Benito, Bernardino; Bastida, Francisco; García, José A.

(605 KByte)

Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-241743

Abstract	This paper investigates efficiency in the municipal sector of the Region of Murcia (Spain). With that aim, data of 31 municipalities (69% of the response rate) have been collected. Services analyzed are: police, culture, sports, green areas, refuse collection and water supply. Ratios of efficiency have been related to other control variables, such as economic level, size of the municipality, decentralization, political sign and financial situation. A weak positive relation between economic level and efficiency arises. Some weak evidence also exists that public management of refuse collection is more efficient than private. In water supply, public management by means of a company controlled by the local government is clearly more efficient than private. It also seems that the higher the tax burden, the greater the efficiency in providing services.
Document language	English
Publication Year	2010
Page/Pages	p. 515-528
Journal	Applied Economics, 42 (2010) 4
DOI	http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036840701675560
Status	Postprint; peer reviewed
Licence	PEER Licence Agreement (applicable only to documents from PEER project)