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Competition and public high school performance

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  • Harrison, Julie
  • Rouse, Paul

Abstract

Increasing the level of school competition has been suggested as a way to improve school performance. This study examines one of the most extreme examples of such reform using data from New Zealand public high schools. In the 1990s school zoning was abolished in New Zealand and public schools competed for students, not just with private schools, but also with each other. A categorical Data Envelopment Analysis model using data on school resources and student academic performance, stratified using student socio-economic characteristics, is used to calculate efficiency scores for schools. A regression model is then used to analyse differences in these efficiency scores and their relationship to different levels of competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Harrison, Julie & Rouse, Paul, 2014. "Competition and public high school performance," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 10-19.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:48:y:2014:i:1:p:10-19
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2013.11.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Agasisti, Tommaso & Barra, Cristian & Zotti, Roberto, 2016. "Evaluating the efficiency of Italian public universities (2008–2011) in presence of (unobserved) heterogeneity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 47-58.
    2. Tavana, Madjid & Ebrahimnejad, Ali & Santos-Arteaga, Francisco J. & Mansourzadeh, Seyed Mehdi & Matin, Reza Kazemi, 2018. "A hybrid DEA-MOLP model for public school assessment and closure decision in the City of Philadelphia," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 70-89.
    3. Norman Gemmell & Patrick Nolan & Grant Scobie, 2017. "Public sector productivity: Quality adjusting sector-level data on New Zealand schools," Working Papers 2017/02, New Zealand Productivity Commission.
    4. López-Torres, Laura & Johnes, Jill & Elliott, Caroline & Polo, Cristina, 2021. "The effects of competition and collaboration on efficiency in the UK independent school sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-53.
    5. López-Torres, Laura & Prior, Diego, 2022. "Long-term efficiency of public service provision in a context of budget restrictions. An application to the education sector," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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