Efficiency and productivity of employment offices: evidence from Sweden

Purpose – This paper aims to measure the efficiency and productivity of Swedish employment offices. Design/methodology/approach – Using four inputs, five outputs, and two quality attributes the efficiency and productivity of 253 Swedish employment offices are evaluated using models of relative technical efficiency and Malmquist productivity indices. The results are computed as solutions to linear programming problems for the 1992‐1995 periods. Findings – Results of the study find that the mean efficiency across offices varies between 74 and 78 percent. The mean productivity change demonstrates a decrease of 11 percent during the 1992‐1993 period, and an increase of 7 and 13 percents during 1993‐1994 and 1994‐1995 respectively. Research limitations/implications – Different background characteristics of job seekers could possibly bias the result for some of the offices. Further research could use a dynamic model where different job seeker characteristics are taken into consideration. Practical implications – The paper provides an opportunity for inefficient/low productivity offices to study how offices identified as more efficient are producing their services. Originality/value – This paper demonstrates how efficiency and productivity could be measured in a multi‐input, multi‐output employment office service sector setting where quality aspects are allowed to play a part.