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Purpose: This paper seeks to model and compute productivity, including a measure of quality, of a service which does not have marketable outputs--namely public education at the micro level. This application is a case study for Sweden public schools. Design/methodology/approach: A Malmquist productivity index is employed which allows for multiple outputs or outcomes such as test results and promotions without requiring price data with which to aggregate these outputs. It also allows one to account for inputs such as teachers and facilities as well as proxies for quality of the inputs (e.g. experience of teachers) and outputs. This model generalizes the basic data envelopment analysis (DEA) models--used successfully to measure performance in many educational applications--to the intertemporal case. A way of computing quality and quantity components of overall productivity is employed. Findings: The case study is an application to the Swedish primary and secondary school system over the 1992 to 1995 period. It was found that quality "matters", i.e. productivity growth changes when one accounts for quantity. Research limitations/implications: The data available implied that the specification is restricted to an intermediate production model, i.e. the output data only account for the intermediate outcomes of education like grades and promotions, but not the longer term outcomes related to success in the job market or higher education, which one proposed as a task for future research. Originality/value: The indices which are computed at the micro level are of value for policy purposes (does investment in quality matter?) and in an evaluation context. (Contains 1 figure and 10 tables.)

A study on environmental performance indicators is presented. A formal index number of environmental performance which can be computed using data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques is discussed.

A modification of the Malmquist index produces a productivity index which is capable of highlighting reductions in undesirable outputs alongside increases in good outputs. The new index, called the Malmquist-Luenberger index, incorporates a directional distance function. It gives credit to firms which reduce unwanted outputs, including pollution, by indicating true productivity improvements over time, and it allows firms to compare themselves to best practices. An application of the index to productivity data from the Swedish paper industry indicates its capabilities.

The manner by which local government bureaucracies cope with the problem of increasing threats to public safety in the face of budgetary constraints is analyzed. The Dallas Police Dept. is used as a model for the analysis which incorporates technology and the substitutability of civilian and police personnel. Results show that, unlike during ordinary circumstances, the bureaucracy tends to be wise and efficient in allocating resources when faced with the twin social and financial problem.

Hospital estimates of the marginal costs and elasticity of transformation of hospital services in California and New York is measured using shadow prices. These estimates are also used to compare hospitals by ownership. The marginal rates of transformation and elasticities of subsitution of hospitals are compared with those of public hospitals. The shadow prices varied across samples but very little across ownership type implying similar tradeoffs on technology and ownership type.

The interrelationships among efficiency, productivity and quantity indexes are studied. Shephard's distance function, which gives a complete and general description of technology with inputs and outputs, is assumed in the problem. It is shown that the function serves as the link which connects the three indexes in production theory. In addition, the functional analysis shows a similar application to price indexes.