A Study of Estimating Proper Sizes of Personnel for Local Governments in Korea

Abstract

There have been several attempts to propose a general model of estimating proper sizes of personnel for local governments in Korea for the last ten years. The studies, however, have failed to bring satisfactory results. It may not be possible to generate ultimate tools of calculating the number of public servants for every local government since each government faces different situations that require various levels of service cost. This paper introduces a method of estimating the proper sizes of personnel for local governments in Korea. The SI(Standardized Index) model introduced here has been applied to Korean local governments as a tool for downsizing and as generating an important indicator of determining grant sizes for local governments. This paper, therefore, focuses on the SI model and also introduces several other methods for a comparison. The introduction of SI model occupies a major part of the paper. The research also releases some results generated by the SI model. Finally, it discusses potential alternatives and proposes future research issues.