Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/30224 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series in Economics No. 134
Publisher: 
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Lüneburg
Abstract: 
In recent years the economic performance of public non-profit sectors such as cultural services has become an interesting economic issue. This is due to the high dependence of cultural institutions on public funding on the one hand and the increasing cost-pressure on public budgets on the other hand. In order to achieve an efficiently, cost-minimizing resource allocation public authorities who decide on the distribution of public budgets need reliable performance indicators. Against this background, this paper analyzes the efficiency of German public theaters for the seasons 1991/1992 to 2005/2006. Using a stochastic frontier analysis approach, we test whether the assumption of cost-minimizing behavior is reliable in this sector. Moreover, several panel data models that differ in their ability to account for unobserved heterogeneity are applied to evaluate the impact of unobserved heterogeneity on the efficiency estimates. The results indicate that the cost-minimizing assumption cannot be maintained. Consequently, an efficiency analysis based on a cost function approach seems inappropriate in the case of German public theaters. Further, we find a considerably unobserved heterogeneity across the theaters, which causes a significant variation in the models' efficiency estimates. This implies that failing to account for unobserved heterogeneity leads to biased efficiency values. Overall, our results suggest that there is still space for improvement in the employment of resources in the sector.
Subjects: 
Public theaters
efficiency
stochastic frontier analysis
input distance function
cultural economics
JEL: 
L82
D24
Z10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
452.59 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.