ABSTRACT

Size effects such as economies of scale and economies of scope can be utilised to achieve cost savings in local government systems. Numerous municipal reform policies in Australia and elsewhere have historically been premised on size effects. In this paper, we investigate whether an interaction effect exists between scale economies and scope economies in New South Wales local government using a 2011 sample of local councils. We estimate the effects of scale and specialisation on efficiency by way of a multiple regression, using a novel approach to measure specialisation. We find empirical evidence that indicates economies of scale and economies of scope are both likely to be present across a broad range of scales. However, we find no evidence of any interaction effect between scale and scope economies.

摘要

可以利用规模经济和范围经济等规模效应来实现地方政府系统的成本节约。澳大利亚和其他地方的许多市政改革政策历来都是以规模效应为前提的。在本文中，我们使用 2011 年地方议会的样本调查新南威尔士州地方政府的规模经济和范围经济之间是否存在交互效应。我们通过多元回归估计规模和专业化对效率的影响，使用一种新的方法来衡量专业化。我们发现经验证据表明规模经济和范围经济都可能存在于广泛的规模范围内。然而，我们没有发现任何规模经济和范围经济之间相互作用的证据。