Measuring Potential Efficiency Gains from Mergers of Italian First Instance Courts through Nonparametric Model

In several countries, economic development has boosted the mobility ofpopulation, changing the distribution of litigation. Hence, the increasingdifference between the new demand of legal services and the old judicialmaps has increased processing time and backlog, therefore, badly affectingjudiciary efficiency. These issues are particular relevant for the Italianjudicial system because of the Italian government’s proposal (decree n. 155/2012) of new judicial map of first instance courts. The courts’ reorganizationhas been achieved through the horizontal merger of some courts andthe abolition of all local courthouses. This article represents the first attempts at measuring the potential performance improvements achievedby the enforced reform. For this purpose, we compare the efficiency levelsof Italian first instance courts in 2011 with those reached by the new judicialmap. Our results show not negligible efficiency gains from the proposedmergers under the variable returns to scale technology assumption.