PRODUCTIVITY IN MULTIPLE-OUTPUT PUBLIC-SERVICE - A QUADRATIC FRONTIER FUNCTION AND MALMQUIST INDEX APPROACH

The purpose of this study is to analyse the development of productivity and structural efficiency for an extended period of time, 1974 to 1987, in the production of public social insurance services in Sweden. The analysis is based on the estimation of a deterministic flexible single input multiple output frontier production function. The findings indicate a productivity decrease for the entire period from 1974 to 1987 of 18 percent. In the period 1974 to 1982, productivity decreased by approximately 30 percent, but at the end of the period, 1984 to 1987, there was a productivity recovery of about 11 percent.