Merger myths: A functional analysis in New South Wales local government

Fahey, G; Drew, J; Dollery, BE

Merger myths: A functional analysis in New South Wales local government

Fahey, G

Drew, J

Dollery, BE

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Public Finance and Management, 2016, 16 (4), pp. 362 - 382
Issue Date:: 2016-12-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	Merger Myths PFM final submission.docx	Accepted Manuscript Version	77.87 kB	Microsoft Word XML	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fahey, G https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5499-4782	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Drew, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3579-5758	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Dollery, BE	en_US
dc.date.available	2016-09-03	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Public Finance and Management, 2016, 16 (4), pp. 362 - 382	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1523-9721	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/51616
dc.description.abstract	Structural reform through municipal mergers is ubiquitous across the developed world and Australian local government is no exception. Advocates of council consolidation, including the New South Wales (NSW) Government in its current amalgamation program, frequently contend that larger local government entities will generate cost savings through scale economies, despite the fact that different municipal functions exhibit a wide range of production characteristics. In the NSW case, no empirical evidence has been presented in support of the claim that amalgamation will induce greater economies of scale. In order to examine this claim empirically, we undertook a functional municipal expenditure analysis for NSW using 2014 data. Our results cast considerable doubt on the scale economies claim made by the NSW Government.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Public Finance and Management	en_US
dc.title	Merger myths: A functional analysis in New South Wales local government	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	16	en_US
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/lnstitute for Public Policy and Governance
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - IPPG - Institute for Public Policy and Governance
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	false	en_US
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	16	en_US

Abstract:

Structural reform through municipal mergers is ubiquitous across the developed world and Australian local government is no exception. Advocates of council consolidation, including the New South Wales (NSW) Government in its current amalgamation program, frequently contend that larger local government entities will generate cost savings through scale economies, despite the fact that different municipal functions exhibit a wide range of production characteristics. In the NSW case, no empirical evidence has been presented in support of the claim that amalgamation will induce greater economies of scale. In order to examine this claim empirically, we undertook a functional municipal expenditure analysis for NSW using 2014 data. Our results cast considerable doubt on the scale economies claim made by the NSW Government.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/51616