Students and Teachers: A DEA Approach to the Relative Efficiency of Portuguese Public Universities

Afonso, António; Santos, Mariana

doi:10.2139/ssrn.744464

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Students and Teachers: A DEA Approach to the Relative Efficiency of Portuguese Public Universities

ISEG-UTL Economics Working Paper No. 07/2005/DE/CISEP

32 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2005

See all articles by António Afonso

António Afonso

University of Lisbon - ISEG (School of Economics and Management); UECE (Research Unit on Complexity and Economics); ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management,Universidade de Lisboa; REM - Research in Economics and Mathematics

Mariana Santos

Economic Research and Forecasting Department (DGEP)

Date Written: June 2005

Abstract

We employ a non-parametric methodology, Data Envelopment Analysis, to estimate efficiency scores for Portuguese public universities, using data mainly for 2003. The input measures are constructed from the number of teachers and from universities' spending while the outputs measures are based on the undergraduate success rate and on the number of doctoral dissertations. Using frontier analysis we are able to separate universities that might qualify, as performing well from those were some improvement might be possible in terms of efficiency. This could imply a better allocation by the universities of the usually scarce public financial resources available to tertiary education.

Keywords: tertiary education, efficiency, production possibility frontier, DEA

JEL Classification: C14, H52, I21

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Afonso, António and Santos, Mariana, Students and Teachers: A DEA Approach to the Relative Efficiency of Portuguese Public Universities (June 2005). ISEG-UTL Economics Working Paper No. 07/2005/DE/CISEP, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=744464 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.744464