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The judiciary is constantly undergoing change in order to respond to a wide range of social developments that have brought the sector under increasing pressure. In order to deal with the constant call for enhancing budgets, different policy measures have been taken to downsize the appeal to the judiciary and to improve productivity. One of the central questions hereby is whether these measures have actually contributed to a more productive sector. This paper focuses on the development of productivity in the judiciary and how policy measures have affected productivity. In this empirical analysis, we apply a cost function model to time series data of the Dutch judiciary between 1980 and 2016. The results show a dramatic decline of productivity over the entire period (−50%), in spite of various policy measures. The year 2001 can be regarded as a turning point, as since then productivity has remained more or less stable. It seems that this is largely due to the establishment of the Council for the Judiciary and the associated increase in (financial and operational) autonomy for the judiciary. Another striking result is that technical change is biased toward using more personnel through time.
Jos L. T. Blank; Alex A.S. Van Heezik. Policy reforms and productivity change in the judiciary system: a cost function approach applied to time series of the Dutch judiciary system between 1980 and 2016. International Transactions in Operational Research 2019, 27, 2002 -2020.
AMA StyleJos L. T. Blank, Alex A.S. Van Heezik. Policy reforms and productivity change in the judiciary system: a cost function approach applied to time series of the Dutch judiciary system between 1980 and 2016. International Transactions in Operational Research. 2019; 27 (4):2002-2020.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJos L. T. Blank; Alex A.S. Van Heezik. 2019. "Policy reforms and productivity change in the judiciary system: a cost function approach applied to time series of the Dutch judiciary system between 1980 and 2016." International Transactions in Operational Research 27, no. 4: 2002-2020.
In the last four decades, the Dutch drinking water industry has undergone two major policy reforms, namely the consolidation of the industry by stimulating mergers and the introduction of yardstick competition by applying benchmarks. This paper addresses the question of whether these two instruments have improved productivity. Productivity changes are derived from an estimated cost function. The effects of average scale as well as the introduction of a form of yardstick competition on productivity are formally tested. Estimation is conducted on the basis of time series data in the period 1980–2015. Industry consolidation has taken place over a long period of time. Yardstick competition was introduced in 1997 on a voluntary basis. It shows that total factor productivity was rather stable in the period 1980–1998. Since 1998, annual productivity growth has been substantial (about 0.6% on average). There was an obvious break point in 1998, providing clear evidence that the introduction of the benchmark instrument has affected productivity change. Moreover, there are various indications that benchmarking has also contributed to improving quality and sustainability. We could not find any empirical evidence for the hypothesis that consolidation of the industry has improved productivity.
Jos L. T. Blank; Bert Enserink; Alex A. S. Van Heezik. Policy Reforms and Productivity Change in the Dutch Drinking Water Industry: A Time Series Analysis 1980–2015. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3463 .
AMA StyleJos L. T. Blank, Bert Enserink, Alex A. S. Van Heezik. Policy Reforms and Productivity Change in the Dutch Drinking Water Industry: A Time Series Analysis 1980–2015. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (12):3463.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJos L. T. Blank; Bert Enserink; Alex A. S. Van Heezik. 2019. "Policy Reforms and Productivity Change in the Dutch Drinking Water Industry: A Time Series Analysis 1980–2015." Sustainability 11, no. 12: 3463.