Reformen auf der Suche nach Skaleneffekten: die Struktur der Verwaltungs- und Verfahrenskosten der �ffentlichen Unfallkassen in Deutschland

We analyze the cost savings potential with regard to administration and management costs by merging Public Employment Accident Insurance Funds (�ffentliche Unfallkassen) in Germany. Our data base consists of the annual reports of the public statutory accident insurance funds from 1999 to 2005. Results of a multivariate regression analysis help to identify cost drivers and the potential existence of economies of scale. The numbers of employee accidents and pupil accidents as well as expenditures to prevent accidents serve as explanatory variables for administration and management costs. The main results are as follows. First, public accident insurance funds are very heterogeneous with regard to administration and management costs. Second, these cost differences are unrelated to the size of insurance funds (the number of insured employees and pupils). There is no evidence for cost savings of larger insurance funds, i.e., economies of scale. Third, accidents of pupils entail substantially lower management and administration costs than accidents of employees. Furthermore, there is evidence that higher expenditures to prevent accidents such as accident prevention programs also involve higher administration and management costs.