Urban public libraries: Performance analysis using dynamic-network-DEA

Abstract

The aim of this work is to posit a model to evaluate the efficiency of a system of urban public libraries and to examine the impact of certain contextual variables on the level of performance. We take the System of Public Libraries in the city of Medellin (Colombia) as a case study and consider a production function which displays three main characteristics. First, it is a complete production function which spans the different activities undertaken by these institutions, not only the one that identifies it with its function as a repository of knowledge. Second, there is the production function in stages, which allows us to distinguish between the various activities controlled by management from those coproduced with users, together with the link between the two. The third is a production function which takes into account temporal interdependence relations by identifying quasi-fixed inputs that remain for the provision of the service over time. This then allows us to analyse how efficiency evolves during the period in question. Efficiency evaluation is carried out by employing a dynamicnetwork-DEA model and we also apply truncated bootstrap regression to estimate the effect of certain contextual variables on library efficiency. The results evidence a growing trend in the efficiency indices, with values that are slightly more favourable in the second stage of service provision than in the stage focusing on managing the cultural programme. Factors such as the level of education, population density, youthfulness, and safety are seen to positively affect library performance, particularly in the second stage vis-à-vis the public.

Measuring Regional Innovation Efficiency in China using a Dynamic Network DEA Model

“…It is worth noting that, of all these methods, dynamic network DEA is the only one to consider the dynamic and network features of the innovation process simultaneously (Tone & Tsutsui, 2014). It has been employed in various research fields (Chang, Tone, & Wu, 2021;Del Barrio-Tellado, Gómez-Vega, Gómez-Zapata, & Herrero-Prieto, 2021;Losa, Arjomandi, Dakpo, & Bloomfield, 2020;Lu, Chiu, Yang, & Lin, 2021;See, Hamzah, & Yu, 2021;Wanke, Azad, Emrouznejad, & Antunes, 2019;Wanke, Tsionas, Chen, & Antunes, 2020;Xie, Zhou, Zong, & Lu, 2020), while only a few recent studies have applied it to estimate innovation efficiency; for instance, Liu and Lyu (2020) used it to calculate the innovation efficiency of China's pharmaceutical industries, and Bostian, Daraio, Grosskopf, Ruocco, and Weber (2020) employed it to conduct efficiency analysis at a cross-country level.…”

Desarrollo y consolidación de los estudios regionales en España

“…Por último, el tercer grupo de trabajos ha dedicado más su atención a las relaciones entre turismo y cultura desde la óptica regional (Gómez-Vega y Herrero, 2017y 2018) y Figueroa et al, 2018; así como en la evaluación de las políticas e instituciones culturales desde el punto de vista de la eficiencia, que es el objetivo, por ejemplo, del análisis del sistema nacional de museos (Del Barrio y Herrero, 2019); del impacto de las orquestas sinfónicas (Gómez-Vega y Herrero, 2019), y de la constitución y los efectos del sistema de bibliotecas de Medellín (Del Barrio et al, 2020).…”

The quest for attractiveness of publicly owned libraries: a service quality perspective

“…A reframing of public libraries' service offering is heralded by this transformation (Goulding, 2016). A shift toward people-centeredness and service co-production is progressively reshaping the organizational attributes and management activities of public libraries (Witte and Geys, 2013), emphasizing their commitment to establish a co-creating dialog with users in a perspective of knowledge co-generation (Del Barrio-Tellado et al, 2021). This is in line with trends in other areas of public service delivery (Palumbo and Fakhar Manesh, 2021), with users achieving the role of value co-creators in collaboration with providers (Palumbo, 2016;Adinolfi et al, 2016;Palumbo et al, 2017;Minelli and Ruffini, 2018).…”

“…A reframing of public libraries' service offering is heralded by this transformation (Goulding, 2016). A shift toward people-centeredness and service co-production is progressively reshaping the organizational attributes and management activities of public libraries (Witte and Geys, 2013), emphasizing their commitment to establish a co-creating dialog with users in a perspective of knowledge co-generation (Del Barrio-Tellado et al. , 2021).…”