The Distribution of Research Performance Across Australian Universities, 1992-2003, and Its Implications for Higher Education Funding Models

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The Distribution of Research Performance Across Australian Universities, 1992-2003, and Its Implications for Higher Education Funding Models

Author Info

Ville, Simon () (University of Wollongong)
Valadkhani, Abbas () (University of Wollongong)
O'Brien, Martin () (University of Wollongong)

Abstract

We contribute to the debate on research performance by comparing the distribution of research inputs and outputs across Australian universities during 1992-2003. We have calculated annual Gini coefficients for various performance measures and Lorenz curves for the final year of the study. Various findings are evident. Research-input measures have remained relatively unevenly distributed across universities. Output measures were more evenly distributed and this exhibited a gradual and rather consistent decline through time, supporting the view that the research output is being generated gradually more equally across Australia’s universities. Excluding the "Group of Eight" (Go8) universities, results in a more even distribution of performance. However, in 2003 this group took the lion’s share of research inputs but produced a smaller share of outputs. Our findings are relevant to current funding policy discussion.

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Paper provided by School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia in its series Economics Working Papers with number wp05-26.

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Length: 19 pages
Date of creation: 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:uow:depec1:wp05-26

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
A19 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Other
C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods and Programming - - - Computational Techniques
I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2006-03-11 (All new papers)
NEP-EDU-2006-03-11 (Education)
NEP-SOG-2006-03-11 (Sociology of Economics)

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Richard Pomfret & Liang Choon Wang, 2003. "Evaluating The Research Output Of Australian Universities' Economics Departments," Australian Economic Papers, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(4), pages 418-441, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Claudio Zoli, 1999. "Intersecting generalized Lorenz curves and the Gini index," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 183-196. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Milanovic, Branko, 1994. "The Gini-Type Functions: An Alternative Derivation," Bulletin of Economic Research, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 81-90, January.
Ying Chu Ng, Sung Ko Li, 2000. "Measuring the Research Performance of Chinese Higher Education Institutions: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 139-156, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Johnes, Jill & Johnes, Geraint, 1995. "Research funding and performance in U.K. University Departments of Economics: A frontier analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 301-314, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Esmaiel Abounoori & Patrick McCloughan, 2003. "A simple way to calculate the Gini Coefficient for grouped as well as ungrouped data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 10(8), pages 505-509, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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