An Efficiency Comparison of Regional Employment Offices Operating Under Different Exogenous Conditions

Ramirez, José V.; Vassiliev, Anatoli

doi:10.2139/ssrn.942188

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An Efficiency Comparison of Regional Employment Offices Operating Under Different Exogenous Conditions

17 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2006

See all articles by José V. Ramirez

José V. Ramirez

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration

Anatoli Vassiliev

University of Geneva

Date Written: October 2006

Abstract

This paper investigates the technical efficiency differences of a sample of regional employment offices (REOs) across Swiss cantons. The analysis is carried out by means of a stochastic production frontier model estimated on a panel of employment offices observed over the period between November 2000 and December 2001. The results show that the specific exogenous conditions exercise a strong influence over the technical efficiency of each employment office. Even though these conditions affect significantly the relative performance of REOs, the managerial efficiency component does remain important. Hence, REOs may improve their efficiency by adopting better managerial practices. Finally, the job placement process is characterised by decreasing returns to scale.

Keywords: Regional employment offices, technical efficiency, exogenous conditions, stochastic frontier production function

JEL Classification: C23, F14, J31

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Ramirez, José V. and Vassiliev, Anatoli, An Efficiency Comparison of Regional Employment Offices Operating Under Different Exogenous Conditions (October 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=942188 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.942188