In this paper we investigate the determinants of local governments' technical efficiency in road maintenance for a panel of German counties using a broad variety of estimation approaches. More specifically, we calculate efficiency indices using non-parametric (DEA) and parametric (stochastic...

While there are numerous studies on the measurement of the technical or cost efficiency of local governments, the analysis of the main drivers of this efficiency has attracted far less attention in this literature. However, information about the main sources of (in) efficiency are not...

We examine how highway accessibility influences local employment outcomes. We exploit the stagewise expansion of the "Baltic Sea highway", the largest contiguous highway construction project in Germany since 1945. Results from difference-indifferences estimations and an event study approach show...