Der Effekt kommunaler Größe auf die Auszahlungseffizienz

The demographic development in Germany casts a shadow on the future financing of municipal tasks. Declining birth rates and emerging regional migration (internal migration) are reason enough to think about the optimal size of cities, districts and villages. Municipal reforms in form of merging or centralizing local governments, is to be considered as a possible solution for future population declines. From overcoming small-scale structures at the local level, promoters of the municipality reform expect cost savings and efficiency gains. The present work examines, by means of the most populous federal state of North Rhine -Westphalia, the relationship between cost and size of municipalities using "Stochastic Frontier Analysis" (SFA). This article further addresses the question of whether improvements in efficiency of the public administration due to more inhabitants are obtained. However, the results of the investigation demonstrate no positive economies of scale, but show that with increasing population an efficiency disadvantage of the considered municipalities can be observed. Against this background, the question whether a municipal reform is a suitable response to the challenges of demographic development in North Rhine-Westphalia, is to be denied.