This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Productivity in Public Services

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Helen Simpson ()

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper discusses issues arising in the measurement of productivity in public services. Compared to measuring productivity in the private sector difficulties arise because the output of public services is often un-priced and because some public services are consumed collectively. A key problem is measuring the full range of outputs and quality improvements delivered by public sector organisations that are valued by society. Without comprehensive measures of output productivity statistics may be misleading. I outline methods used in the measurement of both private and public sector productivity and discuss the measurement of public sector productivity in practice. Finally I discuss studies that examine factors underlying productivity differences and productivity growth in public and private sector organisations. Public sector reforms and the use of pilot schemes in public sector organisations present opportunities for research to identify causal effects on productivity.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp164.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK in its series The Centre for Market and Public Organisation with number 07/164.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:07/164

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 2 Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TX
Phone: 0117 33 10799
Fax: 0117 33 10705
Email:
Web page: http://www.bris.ac.uk/cmpo/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Karen Ireland).

Related research
Keywords: Productivity; Public enterprises;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity
H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Dennis Fixler & Kimberly Zieschang, 1999. "The productivity of the banking sector: integrating financial and production approaches to measuring financial service output," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 547-569, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Martin Gaynor, 2006. "What Do We Know About Competition and Quality in Health Care Markets?," NBER Working Papers 12301, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2002. "School Choice and School Productivity (or Could School Choice be a Tide that Lifts All Boats?)," NBER Working Papers 8873, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Orana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2006. "Incentives for Managers and Inequality Among Workers: Evidence from a Firm Level Experiment," Natural Field Experiments 0015, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. John Haltiwanger & C J Krizan & Lucia Foster, 1998. "Aggregate Productivity Growth: Lessons From Microeconomic Evidence," Working Papers 98-12, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Peter C. Smith & Andrew Street, 2005. "Measuring the efficiency of public services: the limits of analysis," Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 168(2), pages 401-417. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Diewert, W E, 1992. "The Measurement of Productivity," Bulletin of Economic Research, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(3), pages 163-98, July.
    Other versions:
  9. Zvi Griliches & Jacques Mairesse, 1995. "Production Functions: The Search for Identification," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1719, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    Other versions:
  10. Carol Propper & Deborah Wilson, 2003. "The Use and Usefulness of Performance Measures in the Public Sector," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 03/073, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Edward P. Lazear, 2000. "Performance Pay and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1346-1361, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Steve Bond & Måns Söderbom, 2005. "Adjustment costs and the identification of Cobb Douglas production functions," IFS Working Papers W05/04, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Daniel P. Kessler & Mark B. McClellan, 2000. "Is Hospital Competition Socially Wasteful?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 577-615, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & Chad Syverson, 2005. "Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?," Working Papers 05-11, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Andrew Street, 2003. "How much confidence should we place in efficiency estimates?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(11), pages 895-907. [Downloadable!]
  16. Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & Marisa Ratto & Emma Tominey, 2004. "Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from a Government Agency," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/103, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  17. David M. Cutler & Mark McClellan, 2001. "Productivity Change in Health Care," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 281-286, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Newhouse, Joseph P., 1994. "Frontier estimation: How useful a tool for health economics?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 317-322, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Deborah Wilson, 2004. "Which Ranking? The Impact of a 'Value-Added' Measure of Secondary School Performance," Public Money & Management, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, vol. 24(1), pages 37-45, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-46, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Adele Atkinson & Simon Burgess & Bronwyn Croxson & Paul Gregg, 2004. "Evaluating the Impact of Performance-related Pay for Teachers in England," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/113, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  22. Richard Disney & Jonathan Haskel & Ylva Heden, 2003. "Restructuring and productivity growth in uk manufacturing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(489), pages 666-694, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  23. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates Of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Propper, Carol & Burgess, Simon & Green, Katherine, 2004. "Does competition between hospitals improve the quality of care?: Hospital death rates and the NHS internal market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1247-1272, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. repec:rus:hseeco:122160 is not listed on IDEAS
  26. Mike Damiani & Jennifer Dixon & Carol Propper, 2004. "Mapping choice in the NHS: Analysis of routine data," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/095, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  27. Caroline Minter Hoxby, 2003. "School Choice and School Productivity. Could School Choice Be a Tide that Lifts All Boats?," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of School Choice, pages 287-342 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  28. Richard Belfield & David Marsden, 2006. "Pay for Performance Where Output is Hard to Measure: the Case of Performance Pay for School Teachers," CEP Discussion Papers dp0747, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  29. Canice Prendergast, 1999. "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 7-63, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1209-1238, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  31. Pavcnik, Nina, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvement: Evidence from Chilean Plants," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(1), pages 245-76, January.
    Other versions:
  32. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "Multilateral Comparisons of Output, Input, and Productivity Using Superlative Index Numbers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(365), pages 73-86, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. Ruggiero, John, 1996. "Efficiency of Educational Production: An Analysis of New York School Districts," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(3), pages 499-509, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Monojit Chatterji & Karen Mumford & Peter N Smith, 2007. "The Public-Private Sector Wage Differential: Gender, Workplaces and Family Friendliness," Discussion Papers 202, University of Dundee, Economic Studies. [Downloadable!]
  2. Monojit Chatterji & Karen Mumford & Peter N. Smith, 2007. "The Public-Private Sector Gender Wage Differential: Evidence from Matched Employee-Workplace Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3158, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc data is maintained by each archive holder on its own website. Nothing is held centrally.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-25.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.