Technical efficiency of Swedish district courts : - a stochastic distance function analysis

Abstract: The aim of this study is to measure Swedish district courts’ technical efficiency for the period between 2000 and 2016 by applying the stochastic distance function approach. Although a very important issue from a policy perspective, a few studies have measured the efficiency of the courts. The narrow literature is also limited to using nonparametric methods, such as the DEA. The stochastic distance function has not been used for this purpose before and hence this is the first study to do so. The estimated mean score of technical efficiency is 93%. However, this study observes that efficiency levels increase throughout the studied period. Large variations between efficiency levels of different courts are also observed. Policy recommendations are to learn from courts with higher efficiency levels.