The effect of organisational change on UK public library efficiency

Restructuring of local authority services, beginning in 1995/6, changed the organization of public library services in some areas, but not in others. This event provides an opportunity to assess the effect of organizational change on the technical efficiency of library services. A longitudinal data set is used to estimate efficiency scores using a time varying, multi-output stochastic distance function, which is estimated using maximum likelihood methods. Overall, there is little apparent difference in the efficiency of library systems, whether restructured or not. More detailed analysis shows that initially efficiency was reduced, but the scores change over time and higher relative efficiency is implied in subsequent periods.