If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to focus on the efficiency of Dutch secondary schools. In particular, the size of the schools' management is benchmarked. Design/methodology/approach -The methodology used is an advanced micro-econometric technique called stochastic frontier analysis. Findings -The method used is applicable for identifying the optimum allocation, in particular the size of management. The overall result is that there is no systematic over or under allocation of management in Dutch secondary schools. Practical implications -Each school received an individual benchmark. Schools can position themselves in respect with other schools and have information on how to adjust allocation of resources. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the discussion about the size of management costs of Dutch secondary schools. The analysis is based on state-of-the-art methodologies and has not been applied to the educational process.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of environmental factors on labour market performance. Performance is defined in terms of preventing people from flowing into the social benefits system and enhancing the flow of people from the social benefits system into employment, which we measure by the reciprocal of the ratio of the number of social beneficiaries compared to the size of the labour force. To deal with the problem of multidimensionality and the influence of environmental factors, we introduce the concept of an output distance function. We apply this model to regional data in the Netherlands for the period 1998–2005 and estimate the parameters of the model. We conclude that the specific environment in the regions – quantified in this research by economic, demographic and institutional incentive variables – influences regional performances in terms of the number of recipients of full-time unemployment benefits, occupational disability benefits and social assistance benefits.

Income tax is becoming very complex, as a result of the increasing use of income-dependent tax credits and tax rebates. As a result, it can be very difficult for households to assess the consequences on their tax liabilities of, for example, changes in their wages or household situation. Specific parts of the tax system can be simplified with limited redistributional consequences. In particular, the complex system of income-dependent tax rebates for rent, health, and children can be greatly simplified with a single tax rebate, with the same income thresholds, a single phase-out rate, and a uniform means test. Any adverse distributional effects can be remedied via the tax or benefit system. Furthermore, the income-dependent general tax credit can be made independent from income using suitable adjustments in tax rates and the tax credit for the elderly without any noticeable distributional impacts.