Estimating Scale and Scope Economies of Academic Libraries: Using the Flexible Fixed Cost Quadratic Function

This study estimates scale and scope economies of academic libraries. Previous studies using Cobb-Douglas cost function or a linear cost function have limitations in measuring multiple outputs of academic libraries since they used circulation as a single output measure. They also have limitations in estimating long-run cost functions of academic libraries. Some researchers applied the translog cost function to public libraries and recognized the multiple-output nature of libraries, but they mostly failed to incorporate multiple output measures in their analyses empirically. This study develops multiple aggregate output measures and applies the flexible fixed cost quadratic function to academic libraries.