Capital intensity and the federal sector: Some further evidence

✍ Scribed by Gabriel Obermann

• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 365 KB
• Volume: 52
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0048-5829
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00123877

✦ Synopsis

A couple of years ago, Public Choice published a short article on 'Labor intensity, productivity and the growth of the federal Sector' by Orzechowski (Orzechowski, 1974; see also Orzechowski, 1977). The author produces a somewhat surprising empirical evidence and draws from it a far-reaching, though not very convincing, conclusion on the behaviour of public bureaucracies. While the article caught the attention of several authors, 1 it is surprising to note that Orzechowski's central empirical observation has obviously been accepted without questioning and not to my knowledge given rise to closer investigation.

In view of the great importance of the issue of effective capital utilization for the economics of public bureaucracy and the almost complete lack of empirical evidence I shall review in this paper some recent work on capital intensity in public administration and, subsequently, present a critical supplement to Orzechowski's conclusion.