IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i23p6662-d290681.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing Size of Public Schools and School Boards: A Multi-Level Cost Approach Applied to Dutch Primary Education

Author

Listed:
  • Jos L. T. Blank

    (Faculty Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
    Institute for Public Sector Efficiency (IPSE) Studies, Rotterdamseweg 183C, 2629 HD Delft, The Netherlands
    Faculty Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Thomas K. Niaounakis

    (Faculty Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
    Institute for Public Sector Efficiency (IPSE) Studies, Rotterdamseweg 183C, 2629 HD Delft, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In many countries, the provision of primary education is among the core responsibilities of local governments. One of the main questions local governments face concerns the optimal configuration of school boards and size of schools. In this paper we analyse the relation between cost and scale in school boards and in schools. The influence of both the governing layer (board) and the operational layer (school) on average cost are jointly modelled. Board cost is modelled as an aggregation of individual school cost functions so that individual school cost data are not required in order to estimate the model. The results indicate that small schools (<60) pupils are operating under sizable economies of scale. The optimum school size is estimated at roughly 450 pupils, but average cost remains roughly constant with regard to size. In contrast to school size, the effect of board size (in terms of the number of schools governed) on average cost is limited. The policy recommendation is that municipalities should create at least three schoolboards within their jurisdiction and take measures in case individual school size declines below 60 pupils.

Suggested Citation

  • Jos L. T. Blank & Thomas K. Niaounakis, 2019. "Managing Size of Public Schools and School Boards: A Multi-Level Cost Approach Applied to Dutch Primary Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:23:p:6662-:d:290681
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/23/6662/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/23/6662/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pérez-López, Gemma & Prior, Diego & Zafra-Gómez, José Luis & Plata-Díaz, Ana María, 2016. "Cost efficiency in municipal solid waste service delivery. Alternative management forms in relation to local population size," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(2), pages 583-592.
    2. Colegrave, Andrew D. & Giles, Margaret J., 2008. "School cost functions: A meta-regression analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 688-696, December.
    3. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February.
    4. Fried, Harold O. & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Shelton S. (ed.), 2008. "The Measurement of Productive Efficiency and Productivity Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195183528.
    5. Stiefel, Leanna & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Iatarola, Patrice & Chellman, Colin C., 2009. "Mission matters: The cost of small high schools revisited," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 585-599, October.
    6. Andrews, Matthew & Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2002. "Revisiting economies of size in American education: are we any closer to a consensus?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 245-262, June.
    7. Wales, Terence J, 1973. "The Effect of School and District Size on Education Costs in British Columbia," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 710-720, October.
    8. Richard J. Butler & David H. Monk, 1985. "The Cost of Public Schooling in New York State: The Role of Scale and Efficiency in 1978-79," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 20(3), pages 361-382.
    9. Thomas Niaounakis & Jos Blank, 2017. "Inter-municipal cooperation, economies of scale and cost efficiency: an application of stochastic frontier analysis to Dutch municipal tax departments," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 533-554, July.
    10. Blom-Hansen, Jens & Houlberg, Kurt & Serritzlew, Søren & Treisman, Daniel, 2016. "Jurisdiction Size and Local Government Policy Expenditure: Assessing the Effect of Municipal Amalgamation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(4), pages 812-831, November.
    11. K. Chakraborty & B. Biswas & WC. Lewis, 2000. "Economies of scale in public education: an econometric analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(2), pages 238-247, April.
    12. Duncombe, William & Miner, Jerry & Ruggiero, John, 1995. "Potential cost savings from school district consolidation: A case study of New York," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 265-284, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jos L. T. Blank & Thomas K. Niaounakis, 2021. "Economies of Scale and Sustainability in Local Government: A Complex Issue," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Jos L. T. Blanc & Alex A. S. van Heezik & Bas Blank, 2023. "Productivity and efficiency of central government departments: a mixed-effect model applied to Dutch data in the period 2012-2019," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 47(3), pages 335-351.
    3. Jos L. T. Blank, 2021. "Sustainable Provision of School Buildings in The Netherlands: An Empirical Productivity Analysis of Local Government School Building Operations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-11, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rhys Andrews, 2013. "Local government size and efficiency in labor-intensive public services: evidence from local educational authorities in England," Chapters, in: Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), The Challenge of Local Government Size, chapter 7, pages 171-188, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Juan Luis Gómez-Reino & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2021. "Evidence on economies of scale in local public service provision: a meta-analysis," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2103, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    3. Rhys Andrews, 2012. "Local Government Size and Efficiency in Labour Intensive Public Services: Evidence from Local Educational Authorities in England," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1214, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    4. Jos L. T. Blank, 2021. "Sustainable Provision of School Buildings in The Netherlands: An Empirical Productivity Analysis of Local Government School Building Operations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Colegrave, Andrew D. & Giles, Margaret J., 2008. "School cost functions: A meta-regression analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 688-696, December.
    6. Mustafa U. Karakaplan & Levent Kutlu, 2019. "School district consolidation policies: endogenous cost inefficiency and saving reversals," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 1729-1768, May.
    7. Gonzalo Sanz-Magallon-Rezusta & Manuel M. Molina-Lopez & Pilar Melendo-Matias, 2017. "Economies of Scale in Private and Charter Spanish Schools Under an Ownership and Management Perspective," ACTA VSFS, University of Finance and Administration, vol. 11(1), pages 7-27.
    8. Fukushige Mototsugu & Yingxin Shi, 2016. "Efficient scale of prefectural government in China," China Finance and Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 88-109.
    9. Timothy J. Gronberg & Dennis W. Jansen & Mustafa U. Karakaplan & Lori L. Taylor, 2015. "School district consolidation: Market concentration and the scale‐efficiency tradeoff," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(2), pages 580-597, October.
    10. Mototsugu Fukushige & Yingxin Shi, 2014. "Efficient Scale of Local Government in China: Quantile Regression Approach to County-Level Data," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-15, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    11. Marvin E. Dodson & Thomas A. Garrett, 2004. "Inefficient Education Spending in Public School Districts: A Case for Consolidation?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(2), pages 270-280, April.
    12. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo, 2009. "An analysis of cost efficiency in Swiss multi-utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 306-315, March.
    13. Xi Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2022. "Education Universalization, Rural School Participation, and Population Density," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 4-30, July.
    14. Emilio Aguirre & Federico García-Suárez & Gabriela Sicilia, 2021. "Eficiencia técnica en la ganadería de carne bovina pastoril. Medición y exploración de sus determinantes en Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1321, Department of Economics - dECON.
    15. Giambona, Francesca & Porcu, Mariano, 2018. "School size and students' achievement. Empirical evidences from PISA survey data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 66-77.
    16. Di Foggia, Giacomo & Beccarello, Massimo, 2018. "Improving efficiency in the MSW collection and disposal service combining price cap and yardstick regulation: The Italian case," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 79, pages 223-231.
    17. Scorsone, Eric, 2007. "School District and Municipal Reorganization: Research Findings & Policy Proposals," Staff Paper Series 6543, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    18. Enrique J. Buch‐Gómez & Roberto Cabaleiro‐Casal, 2020. "Turnout, political strength, and cost efficiency in Spanish municipalities of the autonomous region of Galicia: Evidence from an alternative stochastic frontier approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 533-553, June.
    19. Carlos Renato De Melo Castro & Geraldo Da Silva E Souza & Maria Eduarda Tannuri-Pianto, 2016. "Gastos Em Educação: Mais Recursos Sem Gestão?," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 072, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    20. Ramcharran, Harri, 2011. "The pharmaceutical industry of Puerto Rico: Ramifications of global competition," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 395-406, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:23:p:6662-:d:290681. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.