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Efficiency Measurement in Australian Local Government: The Case of New South Wales Municipal Water Services
Author(s) -
Woodbury Kim,
Dollery Brian
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2004.00098.x
Subject(s) - allocative efficiency , local government , data envelopment analysis , government (linguistics) , service delivery framework , service (business) , water industry , business , public administration , public economics , economics , water supply , political science , marketing , engineering , environmental engineering , linguistics , philosophy , mathematical optimization , neoclassical economics , mathematics
Australian local government has experienced a series of reforms directed at increasing economic efficiency. An important element in the reform program has been the development of a number of partial indicators of local government service delivery in the states and territories. This paper attempts to augment this literature on performance measurement in Australian local government by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) with holistic indices of allocative and technical efficiency in New South Wales (NSW) municipal water services. It also seeks to incorporate qualitative indicators into efficiency measures. “Best‐practice” councils are identified and the underlying causes of municipal water service efficiency are analyzed.