Did the merger strategy towards optimal scale go too far? The case of Swedish district courts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21586407 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonas Månsson (0000-0001-9078-0511, Blekinge Institute of Technology, corresponding author), Kjartan Rasmussen (Blekinge Institute of Technology), Anupama Unnikrishnan |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-25 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Law and Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0929-1261 • E-ISSN: 1572-9990 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10657-026-09880-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4415588748 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
In Sweden, as in many other countries, the public sector has implemented merger policies to exploit economies of scale and improve efficiency. In previous work, Agrell et al. (Annals of Operations Research, 288:653–679, 2020) we showed that mergers had a positive impact on efficiency. In this study, we investigate the economies of scale argument for mergers. To measure scale elasticity, we estimate a global translog stochastic frontier input distance function covering the years 2000–2016. Our results show that the merger strategy is well supported in empirical results. In the early 2000s, the majority of district courts (94%) operated under increasing returns to scale (IRS), meaning that they were too small compared to optimal scale. About 3% operated under decreasing returns to scale (DRS) and 3% operated at optimal scale. In 2016, around 40% had targeted optimal scale, but 20% were operating at DRS, indicating that they had become too large. These findings show both the potential and the limits of public-sector mergers in demand-driven services such as courts
Economies of scale · Exploit · Frontier · Returns to scale · Corporate Finance and Governance · Efficiency Analysis Using DEA · Merger and Competition Analysis
A survey and analysis of the first 40 years of scholarly literature in DEA
Fixed and Random Effects in Stochastic Frontier Models
Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error
Measuring the efficiency of decision making units
Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models
What lessons can be learned from cost efficiency? The case of Swedish district courts
Scale and scope economies in first-instance courts
Theory of Production
Production Frontiers and Panel Data
The measurement and sources of technical inefficiency in the Indonesian weaving industry
The Nature of the Firm
| Highly cited | No |
|---|