Title: Public services in Chinese regions: a case of cultural provision

Authors: Yanxin Zhu; Libo Zhao; Yanshuo Zhu

Addresses: Qingdao Academy of Governance, 266071, Qingdao, China ' Qingdao Academy of Governance, 266071, Qingdao, China ' University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, China

Abstract: This study focuses on the performance of public cultural services of the 31 regions in China based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The regional relative efficiency and scale efficiency are analysed by using the public cultural inputs and outputs data of 31 regions in 2010, the public cultural services efficiency of the whole country is calculated and analysed, the efficiency of various regions is classified and compared, and their characteristics and causes are discussed. The study shows: (a) at the national level, the investment on public cultural services needs to be further increased and the production capacity needs to be expanded; (b) basic services in western regions should be strengthened to narrow the gap between western regions and eastern regions in terms of the performance of public cultural services; (c) the developed regions of cultural industry should further enhance their supply capacity of public culture and provide more products, especially the performance activities of artistic groups and cultural venues.

Keywords: regional public services; cultural provision; performance evaluation; DEA; data envelopment analysis; China; culture; public cultural services; efficiency; artistic groups; cultural venues.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2013.057558

International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 2013 Vol.5 No.1, pp.59 - 71

Published online: 22 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article