Determinants of Government Efficiency

September 1, 2008

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

David Hauner, and Annette J Kyobe. Determinants of Government Efficiency, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2008) accessed September 18, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

We compile the first large cross-country panel dataset of public sector performance and efficiency, encompassing 114 countries on all income levels from 1980 to 2006, with about 1,800 country-year observations for the education sector and about 900 observations for health. We regress these indicators on potential economic, institutional, demographic, and geographic determinants. Our most resounding conclusion is that higher government expenditure relative to GDP tends to be associated with lower efficiency in the respective sector. Moreover, we find that richer countries exhibit better public sector performance and efficiency, and that institutional and demographic factors also play a significant role.

Subject: Education, Health, Personal income, Population and demographics, Public sector

Keywords: DEA score, Government, Public sector efficiency, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

25
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2008/228
Stock No:

WPIEA2008228
ISBN:

9781451870862
ISSN:

1018-5941

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