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Economies of Scale and Governance of Library Systems: Evidence from West Virginia

Author

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  • Amir B. Ferreira Neto

    (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)

  • Joshua Hall

    (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)

Abstract

Public libraries are a billion dollar industry in the United States. We explore the institutional determinants of public library technical efficiency using data from West Virginia. We first document considerable cross-district variation in library efficiency. While the average library district in our sample is between 81% and 90% efficient depending upon the year and measure, there are many district-years that are under 50%. We then explain our technical efficiency measures as a function of institutional variables reflecting the type of district and sources of funding. We find consistent evidence that urban libraries are more inefficient, perhaps because they are too small to achieve sufficient economies-of-scale in production of library services. In addition, we find revenue from local sources is associated with reduced efficiency, contrary to what would be predicted by local public goods producer theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Amir B. Ferreira Neto & Joshua Hall, 2017. "Economies of Scale and Governance of Library Systems: Evidence from West Virginia," Working Papers 17-13, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
  • Handle: RePEc:wvu:wpaper:17-13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gregory Gilpin & Ezra Karger & Peter Nencka, 2021. "The Returns to Public Library Investment," Working Paper Series WP-2021-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, revised 20 Jul 2021.
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    3. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Data Envelopment Analysis; Efficiency; Government; Public Libraries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

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