| Author(s) |
McQuestin, Dana
Drew, Joseph
Dollery, Brian
|
| Publication Date |
2018
|
| Abstract |
Municipal mergers remain an important instrument of local government policy in numerous countries, including Australia, despite some concerns surrounding its efficacy. We consider the claim that amalgamations enhance the technical efficiency of the merged entities by examining the 2008 Queensland compulsory consolidation program that reduced the number of local authorities from 157 to 73 councils. To test the claim, we conduct locally inter-temporal data envelopment analysis over the period 2003-2013 inclusive. Our evidence suggests that (1) in the financial year preceding the mergers, there was no statistically significant difference in the typical efficiency scores of amalgamated and non-amalgamated councils and (2) 2 years following the mergers, the typical technical efficiency score of the amalgamated councils was well below the non-amalgamated cohort. We argue this may be attributed to increased spending on staffing expenses, although comparatively larger operational expenditure also served to diminish efficiency.
|
| Citation |
Australian Journal of Public Administration, 77(3), p. 442-455
|
| ISSN |
1467-8500
0313-6647
|
| Link | |
| Publisher |
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
|
| Title |
Do Municipal Mergers Improve Technical Efficiency? An Empirical Analysis of the 2008 Queensland Municipal Merger Program
|
| Type of document |
Journal Article
|
| Entity Type |
Publication
|
| Name | Size | format | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| administrative/mods.xml | 3.968 KB | mods.xml | View document | |
| administrative/valet.xml | 3.798 KB | valet.xml | View document | |
| closedpublished/McQuestinDolleryDoMunicipal2017JournalArticle.pdf | 205.992 KB | application/pdf | published version | View document |
| open/DoMunicipalMcQuestinDollery2017JournalArticlePrePeerReview.pdf | 1033.905 KB | application/pdf | Pre peer review version | View document |