How Much Do Government Services Really Cost
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19332271 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E S Savas (Center for Government Studies Graduate School of Business Columbia University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1979 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 23-41 |
| Publication date | 1979-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Affairs Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0042-0816 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/107808747901500102 |
| OpenAlex | W2086000626 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 4 |
Great efforts are being made to increase productivity and to reduce costs of government services. A necessary starting point is adequate knowledge of the true cost of service. The field of residential refuse collection is investigated and empirical evidence is presented that (1) cities do not know the cost of services provided by municipal agencies; (2) city budgets substantially understate the actual cost of service. Reasons why such under- reporting occurs are examined. Because city officials perceive program costs to be lower than they really are, they are often unable to evaluate alternatives and therefore they fail to take advantage of opportunities to increase efficiency
Business · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics) · Point (geometry) · Productivity · Public economics · Service (business) · Auction Theory and Applications · Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing · Housing Market and Economics · Marketing
Contracting out
Explaining the Growth in Municipal Recycling Programs
Down in the Dumps
Production Choices for Local Government Services
Evatt's Breach of Contract
Private versus Public Provision of Refuse Removal Service
The Decision to Contract out
A replication of “Contracting out
Interaction of the Voluntary and Governmental Sectors
Technical Efficiency of Public Decision Making Units
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1981 - 2023 (43) |
| Highly cited | No |