Determinants of service quality in bureaucracy: Parkinson's theory at work

Arbeitspapier

Parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion and that the number of administrators in an office is bound to increase over time. An unique laboratory to test Parkinson's ideas are vehicle registration offices in Germany. Using their data we found empirical support for Parkinson's law: First, service quality is no better in offices that have more staff per case. Second, service quality is worse if the service procedure is disaggregated into multiple smaller sub-services. Third, the staff size is a convex function of the number of customers. These results are robust to specifications in various alternative models.

Object Details

• ISBN: 3938369590
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Diskussionsbeiträge ; No. 2007/11

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Public Administration; Public Sector Accounting and Audits ; Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact ; Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions ; Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
• Subject: Bureaucracy ; Parkinson's law ; Waiting time ; Service Quality ; Queueing Theory ; Bürokratietheorie ; Kraftfahrzeug ; Genehmigung ; Dienstleistungsqualität ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Jochimsen, Beate
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaft
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2007

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/28056
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET