摘要：The study examines the technical, scale and size efficiency of acute hospitals in NorthernIreland over the six-year period, 1986-1992. The efficiency estimates are used to investigate whetherthe empirical evidence supports the subsequent current rationalisation policy for hospital provisionin Northern Ireland. Non-parametric analysis is used to measure the efficiency of larger and smallerhospitals relative to best practice. The results cautiously support the current policy of expandinglarger hospitals and restructuring/closing smaller hospitals, but also indicate that the expansion oflarge hospitals may not yield substantial efficiency gains
