An Empirical Analysis of Administrative Scale Economies in Victorian Local Government

Title
An Empirical Analysis of Administrative Scale Economies in Victorian Local Government
Publication Date
2022-06
Author(s)
Tran, Carolyn-Thi Thanh Dung
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5798-0543
Email: ttran43@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ttran43
Dollery, Brian
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Southern Public Administration Education Foundation, Inc
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.37808/paq.46.2.1
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/71784
Abstract

A voluminous literature has empirically examined scale economies in local government functions, particularly in local urban transportation, water and wastewater provision. Conversely, little work has focused on the empirical investigation of economies of scale in municipal administration, including in Australian local government. In order to address this gap in the empirical literature, in this paper we examine administrative scale economies and task density in the Victorian (VIC) local government system for the period 2014/15 to 2018/19 using a data panel. Our findings reveal no administrative scale economies in VIC local government. By contrast, task density is a key determinant of administrative intensity. We conclude by canvassing some public policy implications of our findings.

Link
Citation
Public Administration Quarterly, 46(2), p. 89-109
ISSN
2327-4433
0734-9149
Start page
89
End page
109

Files:

NameSizeformatDescriptionLink