A Study of the Relationship between Volunteer Fire Brigade Management and the Efficiency of the Fire Administrations of Metropolitan Governments

Abstract

This study sought to analyze the relationship between the operation of volunteer fire brigades and the efficiency of fire-fighting administrations. To this end, the efficiency of the fire-fighting administrations of 16 metropolitan and provincial governments in South Korea were measured using data envelopment analysis (DEA) from 2011 to 2018. In addition, the relationship between the operation efficiency of the volunteer fire brigade and the fire administration was analyzed using a Tobit regression model. DEA found that the technical efficiency based on constant returns to scale was 82.78 ± 18.12%, the technical efficiency based on variable returns to scale was 89.31 ± 12.46%, and the efficiency of the scale was 91.72 ± 10.56%. Tobit regression analysis found the ratio of volunteer fire brigade personnel, the budget ratio of the volunteer fire brigade, and the enforcement of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Volunteer Fire Brigades to have significant positive effects on the pure technical efficiency of local governments. In addition, when the ratio of volunteer fire brigade personnel or ratio of budget had a positive effect on the efficiency of fire administration, the enforcement of the volunteer fire brigade statute exerted a positive adjustment effect. This study thus shows that volunteer fire brigades have a positive impact on the efficiency of the fire-fighting administrations of metropolitan and provincial governments.