The Need for Output Measurements in the Service Industries: A Comment

Fletcher, John; Snee, Helena

doi:10.1080/02642068500000007

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This was also evident some time ago in, for instance, the studies by Bradford, Malt and Oates (1969) and Levitt and Joyce (1987). Fletcher and Snee (1985) have classified the factors that hinder output measurement in the public sector. They consider, first, the problems in setting the objectives and, second, the problems in measuring the outputs themselves.…”

Section: Data Sources and Definition Of Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐ and Short‐Term Cost Efficiency Frontier Evaluation: Evidence from Spanish Local Governments*

Giménez¹,

Prior²

2007

Fiscal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper analyses the efficiency of Spanish local governments using non-convex frontier methods. More specifically, it analyses the total cost inefficiency and proposes its decomposition into three additive components: short-term variable cost inefficiency; capacity utilisation of fixed inputs; and scale inefficiency. The second and third components correspond to the long-term cost efficiency notion. The proposition is applied to a sample of Spanish municipal councils (municipalities with over 2,000 inhabitants located in Catalonia, the Spanish north-eastern region). The results confirm the existence of significant cost inefficiency coefficients related to both the long and short term. Copyright 2007 Institute for Fiscal Studies.

show abstract

Section: Data Sources and Definition Of Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐ and Short‐Term Cost Efficiency Frontier Evaluation: Evidence from Spanish Local Governments*

Giménez¹,

Prior²

2007

Fiscal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It also often constitutes a serious source of controversy. Fletcher and Snee (1985) have ranked what hinders output measurement in the public sector, by considering firstly problems in setting the objectives, and secondly problems in measuring the outputs themselves. Given our aims, and considering we are dealing with municipalities, we are not free from criticism.…”

Section: Data Inputs and Outputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the determinants of local government performance: A two-stage nonparametric approach

Balaguer-Coll

Prior

Tortosa‐Ausina

2007

European Economic Review

221

179

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article analyzes the efficiency of Comunitat Valenciana (Spain) local governments and their main explanatory variables. The analysis is performed in two stages. Firstly, efficiency is measured via (nonparametric) activity analysis techniques. The measurement techniques also enable the sources of inefficiency to be identified, i.e., whether inefficiencies are primarily overall cost, technical, or allocative. The second stage identifies some critical determinants of efficiency, focusing both on political and fiscal policy variables. In contrast to previous two-stage research studies, our approach performs the latter attempt via nonparametric smoothing techniques, rather that econometric methods -such as OLS or Tobit related. Results show that inefficiencies are largely attributable to allocative factors, resulting in a notable gap between cost and technical efficiency. Inefficiencies are also larger for small municipalities. However, they are not exclusively attributable to poor management, as second-stage analysis reveals both fiscal and policy variables, either within or outside local governments control, to be explicably related to municipalities' performance. KEYWORDS:efficiency, kernel smoothing, local government, nonparametric regression.JEL classification: D24, D60, H71, H72. RESUMENEste trabajo analiza la eficiencia de las corporaciones locales de la Comunidad Valenciana y sus factores determinantes. El análisis se lleva a cabo en dos etapas. En primer lugar, la eficiencia es medida a través de técnicas (no paramétricas) de análisis de la actividad. El empleo de este tipo de técnicas permite también identificar las fuentes de ineficiencia, esto es, si esta es básicamente en costes, técnica o de carácter asignativo. La segunda etapa identifica algunos determinantes clave de la eficiencia, centrándose tanto en variables políticas, así como de política fiscal. Frente a estudios previos en dos etapas, nuestro enfoque lleva a cabo este último objetivo a través de técnicas no paramétricas de suavizado, en lugar de métodos econométricos (tales como MCO o modelos Tobit). Los resultados indican que las ineficiencias son atribuibles en gran parte a factores asignativos, dando lugar a un margen considerable entre eficiencia en costes y eficiencia técnica. La ineficiencia también es mayor para las corporaciones locales más pequeñas. Sin embargo, no es atribuible exclusivamente a una gestión deficiente, pues el análisis de segunda etapa muestra que tanto las variables políticas como las de política fiscal, independientemente de si están o no bajo el control de las corporaciones locales, se hayan relacionadas con su nivel de eficiencia.

show abstract

“…In this case, the controllability of the results of impact measures is one of the concerns since the impacts of service outputs are possibly occurring after a certain time period and affected by factors external from the perspective of service provider (e.g. Fletcher and Snee, 1985).…”

Section: Factors Affecting Measurement Development In Service Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A contingency approach to performance measurement in service operations

Jääskeläinen

Laihonen

Lönnqvist

et al. 2012

Measuring Business Excellence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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. SummaryPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contingency factors affecting performance measurement in the service context. The paper aims to review the literature on performance measurement and synthesize it to a framework that creates a basis for analyzing measurement practices in various kinds of service contexts.Design/methodology/approach -In order to obtain a fresh update to the existing knowledge on the topic, a systematic literature review was carried out. Around 8,000 articles published between 2005 and 2011 were reviewed and as a result 80 papers were chosen for a more detailed examination.Findings -The paper applies a fresh approach to performance measurement in services, increasing generalizability of case study findings. By analyzing a large set of studies, the study identifies contextual factors that affect performance measurement in service operations. The resulting framework acts as a foundation for further research on performance measurement in services.Practical implications -The results of this research can be further refined into more practice-oriented framework. After further field research and testing, the framework can be linked to practical recommendations in different settings of measurement development. Originality/value -The measurement of service operations is known to be challenging due to some service-specific features. Much of the existing research on the topic has been carried out in a specific service industry with a specific measurement need. In order to increase generalizability, there is also a need to carry out cross-case analysis identifying patterns among individual case studies. This supports the application of lessons learned from a certain specific setting into other fields. There is very limited knowledge on the contingency factors related to measurement system development caused by service context.

show abstract

The Need for Output Measurements in the Service Industries: A Comment

Cited by 14 publications

References 1 publication

Long‐ and Short‐Term Cost Efficiency Frontier Evaluation: Evidence from Spanish Local Governments*

Long‐ and Short‐Term Cost Efficiency Frontier Evaluation: Evidence from Spanish Local Governments*

On the determinants of local government performance: A two-stage nonparametric approach

A contingency approach to performance measurement in service operations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About