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An Analysis of Technical Efficiency and Efficiency Factors for Austrian and Swiss Non-Profit Theatres

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  • Marta Zieba

Abstract

This article explores the measurement of the production technology and efficiency of the performing arts sector. The stochastic frontier analysis has been used to estimate the technical efficiency scores for 20 Austrian and 30 Swiss non-profit theatres over 36 and 26 years, respectively. The number of visitors and tickets on offer are considered as two alternative measures of artistic output. The results indicate that individual efficiency estimates are very sensitive to the econometric specification of the unobserved heterogeneity of theatres. In particular, econometric techniques which do not account for this heterogeneity produce much lower efficiency levels. The indefinable dimension of artistic output such as theatre-specific quality may also have an important influence on efficiency estimates. The empirical analysis also delivers the first insights into the impact of exogenous factors on technical efficiency such as the number of theatres in the local area, regional differences and the level of public subsidies.

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  • Marta Zieba, 2011. "An Analysis of Technical Efficiency and Efficiency Factors for Austrian and Swiss Non-Profit Theatres," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 147(II), pages 233-274, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ses:arsjes:2011-ii-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Víctor Fernández-Blanco & Ana Rodríguez-Álvarez & Aleksandra Wiśniewska, 2019. "Measuring technical efficiency and marginal costs in the performing arts: the case of the municipal theatres of Warsaw," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(1), pages 97-119, March.
    2. Victor Fernandez-Blanco & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2015. "Measuring allocative efficiency in cultural economics: The case of Fundacion Princesa de Asturias," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-09-2015, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Oct 2015.
    3. Wiśniewska Aleksandra, 2019. "Quality attributes in the non-market stated-preference based valuation of cultural goods," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 6(53), pages 132-150, January.
    4. Sabrina Auci & Laura Castellucci & Manuela Coromaldi, 2021. "How does public spending affect technical efficiency? Some evidence from 15 European countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 108-130, January.
    5. Calogero Guccio & Marco Martorana & Isidoro Mazza & Ilde Rizzo, 2021. "Back to the Future: Does the use of information and communication technology enhance the performance of public historical archives?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 45(1), pages 13-43, March.
    6. Castiglione, Concetta & Infante, Davide & Zieba, Marta, 2023. "Public support for performing arts. Efficiency and productivity gains in eleven European countries," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Víctor Fernández-Blanco & Ana Rodríguez-Álvarez, 2018. "Measuring allocative efficiency in Cultural Economics: the case of “Fundación Princesa de Asturias” (The Princess of Asturias Foundation)," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(1), pages 91-110, February.
    8. Guccio, Calogero & Martorana, Marco & Mazza, Isidoro & Pignataro, Giacomo & Rizzo, Ilde, 2020. "An assessment of the performance of Italian public historical archives: Preservation vs utilisation," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1270-1286.
    9. Marta Zieba & Carol Newman, 2012. "Organisational Structure and Managerial Efficiency: A quasi-experimental analysis of German public theatres," Working Papers WP032012, University of Limerick, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2012.
    10. Víctor Fernández-Blanco & Luis César Herrero & Juan Prieto-Rodríguez, 2013. "Performance of cultural heritage institutions," Chapters, in: Ilde Rizzo & Anna Mignosa (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Cultural Heritage, chapter 24, pages i-i, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Andrej Srakar & Eva Kodric-Dacic & Klemen Koman & Damjan Kavas, 2017. "Efficiency of Slovenian General Public Libraries: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-07-2017, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Sep 2017.
    12. Aleksandra Wiśniewska, 2019. "‘Quality food’ for cultural policies. Quality attributes in the non-market stated-preference based valuation of cultural goods," Working Papers 2019-03, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    13. Luis César Herrero-Prieto, 2013. "Is Museum Performance Affected By Location And Institution Type? Measuring Cultural Institution Efficiency Through Non-Parametric Techniques," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp425, IIIS.
    14. Marta Zieba, 2013. "Is theatre efficiency affected by the legal form type? A case study of German public theatres," Working Papers WP032013, University of Limerick, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2013.
    15. Aleksandra Wiśniewska & Wiktor Budziński & Mikołaj Czajkowski, 2020. "An economic valuation of access to cultural institutions: museums, theatres, and cinemas," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(4), pages 563-587, December.
    16. Calogero Guccio & Anna Mignosa & Ilde Rizzo, 2017. "Disentangle inefficiency in the production activities of Italian national libraries: A network DEA approach," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-04-2017, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Mar 2017.
    17. Maria Jose Del Barrio-Tellado & Luis Cesar Herrero-Prieto, 2018. "Supporting the Dance Sector. Does Efficiency Clash with Success When Programming?," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-03-2018, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Jul 2018.
    18. Concetta Castiglione & Davide Infante & Marta Zieba, 2018. "Technical efficiency in the Italian performing arts companies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 609-638, October.
    19. Zieba Marta & O’Hagan John, 2013. "Demand for Live Orchestral Music – The Case of German Kulturorchester," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 233(2), pages 225-245, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Efficiency Analysis; Stochastic Frontier; Performing Arts; Non-Profit; Austria and Switzerland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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