Francisco Pedraja

Measuring the efficiency in spanish municipal refuse collection services

The aim of this article is to analyse the technical efficiency of the refuse collection services in 75 municipalities located in Catalonia, Spain. The analysis has been carried out using a great variety of techniques, both parametric and non‐parametric. Although the results naturally differ according to the technique used, they nevertheless are consistent in ranking the units analysed. Finally, we have looked into the relation existing between efficiency and the public or private management of the service. The results seem to support the idea that the framework for competition in which the service is provided could be more relevant than the private‐public management dichotomy.

Alternative approaches to include exogenous variables in DEA measures: A comparison using Monte Carlo

The theory for measuring efficiency of producers has developed alternative approaches to correct for the effect of non-discretionary variables in the analysis. A review of different options in the specific literature of Data envelopment analysis (DEA) allows us to identify three main approaches: one-stage, two-stage and multi-stage models. Recently, some of these models have been improved through the development of bootstrap methods making it possible to make inference and to avoid bias in the estimation of efficiency scores. The aim of this paper is to test the performance of these recent models and to compare among them using simulated data from a Monte Carlo experimental design.

Performance measurement of local welfare programmes: evidence from Madrid’s regional government

Interest in how social assistance programmes are organized has recently heightened, fed by concerns about the limits on achieving greater efficiency. Most available evidence considers performance indicators that are too general, there being few studies relating the use of inputs to outcomes. We compare different performance indicators of Madrids programme with resource endowments in a group of local agencies of social services. In addition to constructing a detailed system of input and performance indicators, an empirical analysis of efficiency for each of the social services agencies is carried out using data envelopment analysis. Results confirm that there is a wide margin for obtaining efficiency gains. The empirical analysis shows that some detected inefficiencies arise from an excessive number of staff in relation to the work to be performed. Agencies with a higher incidence of social problems present higher efficiency scores.

Inequality and Welfare in Intra-Territorial Income Distribution

Among the different perspectives making up the analysis of the income distribution, the study of intra-territorial distribution of personal income is frequently omitted from the main lines of research. The juxtaposition of abundant change factors when forming the regional distributive process, the theoretical difficulties of integrating, in a unique analysis framework, the connections and contradictions between the personal and territorial distribution of income and the lack of databases with information that is sufficiently representative of the territorial singularities are the main reasons for the relatively low attention paid to intra-territorial distribution compared with other dimensions concerning inequality. However, in the Spanish case, there are several reasons justifying the detailed study of the differences regarding the distribution of income across the different geographical areas. Firstly, the territorial division of Spain is one of the key factors of the current economic and social organisation model, and its results and possible reforms play a principal role in the public debate. Secondly, the advances made in the process of decentralisation of central government functions to the autonomous regions have been translated into an increasing decentralisation of some of the most important redistributive instruments, such as health, education or housing policies. A precise analysis of the results of such processes in terms of social welfare would seem necessary. Thirdly, there is plenty of empirical evidence on the truncated trend towards a reduction of regional economic disparities in the last decade, measured considering the gross added value per capita. Contrary to the intense process of regional convergence, which occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, the differences among the Spanish autonomous regions intensified in the first half of the 1980s, moderated in the following years and experienced a considerable increase from the mid-1990s onwards. There is also a need to consider whether the evolution of differences in inequality levels within each autonomous region has followed this same pattern.

The effect of financial education training on the financial literacy of Spanish students in PISA

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of financial education training on Spanish secondary students. To do this, we rely on data from PISA 2012. This included an assessment of students’ financial literacy for the first time. In order to identify the causal effect of financial education courses, we employ a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to compare the outcomes of students receiving and not receiving education on financial concepts for two different subjects (financial literacy and reading comprehension). Our results suggest that financial education programs only have an impact if they are taught as part of other subjects, i.e. by means of a cross-curricular approach.