Empirical studies of economies of size in agriculture have generally found the cost curve to
be “L”‐shaped. Changes in the structure of agriculture over time are not necessarily …

The second edition of this book has been written for the same audience as the first edition. It
is designed to be a" first port of call" for people wishing to study efficiency and productivity …

Many local governments measure and report their performance, but the record of these
governments in actually using performance measures to improve services is more modest …

The search for the optimal size of political systems is one of the most enduring in political
thought. Given the validity of arguments for and against small units, one might expect …

Smallholder farming systems in Papua New Guinea are characterised by an integrated set
of cash cropping and subsistence food cropping activities. In the Highlands provinces, the …

A sample of one hundred and seventy‐seven New South Wales' local governments is used
to compare the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier approaches to cost …

Page 1 AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ECONOMICS BRIAN DOLLERY is Professor of
Economics and Director of the Centre for Local Government at the University of New England …

'Structural reform has been one of the most important, and yet one of the most neglected,
aspects of modern local government. This book represents the first attempt, since the early …

This paper analyzes returns to scale in public production. Existing studies fail to differentiate
among three dimensions of scale: service quality, the level of governmental activity, and the …

The notion that 'bigger is better'has underpinned municipal structural reform policy in
Australia and led to its heavy reliance on amalgamation. Several advantages are believed to …