The influence of organisational changes on cost efficiency in fire and rescue services Online publication date: Tue, 18-Oct-2016
by Johan Holmgren; Åsa Weinholt
International Journal of Emergency Management (IJEM), Vol. 12, No. 4, 2016
Abstract: Fire and rescue services (FRS) in Sweden have recently undergone organisational changes aiming at improving service quality and efficiency. Among those changes are an increased number of formalised cooperations between FRSs, increased collaboration with other sectors, changes in the structure of rescue teams, and an increase in the tasks performed by the services. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether these policy changes have resulted in increased cost efficiency in the Swedish FRS. We used stochastic frontier analysis of annual data from Swedish municipalities, taking into account contextual differences. No evidence of improved efficiency in the FRS could be found. The policy changes implemented have not had the desired effects, and most of the policy variables tested for inclusion in the model were not significant. The results also show great variation in efficiency between FRSs which could be used for benchmarking and basis for further analysis.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Emergency Management (IJEM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook