The Provision of Library Services by English Local Authorities

In this paper we examine the cost and efficiency with which library services are provided by English local authorities using stochastic frontier analysis. We test our results using four commonly used assumptions regarding the distribution of the efficiency scores. We find that costs are higher for authorities operating in regions where a higher proportion of the population have low incomes or are of working age. The efficiency scores net of environmental factors, however, are affected by the choice of whether they are considered as quasi fixed factors in the cost frontier or as determinants of inefficiency.