Four Faces of Public Service Efficiency

We argue that there are four main dimensions, or faces, of public service efficiency, which should matter to theorists and practitioners of public management. The first, productive efficiency, relates to the maximization of outputs over inputs; the second, allocative efficiency, refers to the match...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public management review 2013-02, Vol.15 (2), p.246-264
Main Authors: Andrews, Rhys, Entwistle, Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizens
Consumption
Delivery Systems
Efficiency
Management
Public Services
Services
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We argue that there are four main dimensions, or faces, of public service efficiency, which should matter to theorists and practitioners of public management. The first, productive efficiency, relates to the maximization of outputs over inputs; the second, allocative efficiency, refers to the match between the demand for services and their supply; the third, distributive efficiency, relates to the pattern of service delivery amongst different groups of citizens; while the fourth, dynamic efficiency, refers to the balance between current and future consumption. We examine each of these faces of efficiency in turn and reflect upon the potential trade-offs between them. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:1471-9037
DOI:10.1080/14719037.2012.725760