IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eaa/eerese/v12y2012i3_3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Are We Measuring When Evaluating Universities’ Efficiency?

Author

Listed:
  • BERBEGAL MIRABENT, Jasmina
  • SOLÉ PARELLADA, Francesc

Abstract

Globalisation and the knowledge-based society have driven universities to an intense competition for the best professors, researchers and students. Yet, rankings and reports measuring how universities perform are available in abundance. Among these assessment tools it is worth highlighting those based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which since the 1980s have risen considerably. However, there is a lack of consensus when selecting the indicators that best represent the inputs and outputs of such institutions. Aiming to clarify how these proxies are chosen, this paper does an exhaustive review of the indicators used in DEA empirical studies in the last decade, classifying them according to their nature and use.

Suggested Citation

  • BERBEGAL MIRABENT, Jasmina & SOLÉ PARELLADA, Francesc, 2012. "What Are We Measuring When Evaluating Universities’ Efficiency?," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 12(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eaa:eerese:v:12:y2012:i:3_3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.usc.es/economet/reviews/eers1233.pdf
    Download Restriction: No.
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnes, Jill & Yu, Li, 2008. "Measuring the research performance of Chinese higher education institutions using data envelopment analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 679-696, December.
    2. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    3. Colin Glass, J. & McCallion, Gillian & McKillop, Donal G. & Rasaratnam, Syamarlah & Stringer, Karl S., 2006. "Implications of variant efficiency measures for policy evaluations in UK higher education," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 119-142, June.
    4. Avkiran, Necmi K., 2001. "Investigating technical and scale efficiencies of Australian Universities through data envelopment analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 57-80, March.
    5. Ray,Subhash C., 2012. "Data Envelopment Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107405264, September.
    6. Daghbashyan, Zara, 2009. "Do university units differ in the efficiency of resource utilization?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 176, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, revised 17 Dec 2012.
    7. Celik, Orhan & Ecer, Alaattin, 2009. "Efficiency in accounting education: evidence from Turkish Universities," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 614-634.
    8. Kao, Chiang & Hung, Hsi-Tai, 2008. "Efficiency analysis of university departments: An empirical study," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 653-664, August.
    9. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    10. Coccia, Mario, 2008. "Measuring scientific performance of public research units for strategic change," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 183-194.
    11. Korhonen, Pekka & Tainio, Risto & Wallenius, Jyrki, 2001. "Value efficiency analysis of academic research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 121-132, April.
    12. Abbott, M. & Doucouliagos, C., 2003. "The efficiency of Australian universities: a data envelopment analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 89-97, February.
    13. Tzeremes, Nickolaos & Halkos, George, 2010. "A DEA approach for measuring university departments’ efficiency," MPRA Paper 24029, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Robert B. Archibald & David H. Feldman, 2006. "Graduation Rates and Accountability: Regressions versus Production Frontiers," Working Papers 24, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
    15. Cohn, Elchanan & Rhine, Sherrie L W & Santos, Maria C, 1989. "Institutions of Higher Education as Multi-product Firms: Economies of Scale and Scope," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 284-290, May.
    16. Frans van Vught, 2009. "The EU innovation agenda: Challenges for European higher education and research," Higher Education Management and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 21(2), pages 1-22.
    17. Caballero, Rafael & Galache, Teodoro & Gomez, Trinidad & Molina, Julian & Torrico, Angel, 2004. "Budgetary allocations and efficiency in the human resources policy of a university following multiple criteria," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 67-74, February.
    18. Jerry G. Thursby & Marie C. Thursby, 2002. "Who Is Selling the Ivory Tower? Sources of Growth in University Licensing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(1), pages 90-104, January.
    19. Isabelle Huault & V. Perret & S. Charreire-Petit, 2007. "Management," Post-Print halshs-00337676, HAL.
    20. repec:lan:wpaper:1031 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Gimenez, Victor M. & Martinez, Jose Luis, 2006. "Cost efficiency in the university: A departmental evaluation model," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 543-553, October.
    22. Johnes, Jill, 2006. "Data envelopment analysis and its application to the measurement of efficiency in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 273-288, June.
    23. E Thanassoulis & M Kortelainen & G Johnes & J Johnes, 2011. "Costs and efficiency of higher education institutions in England: a DEA analysis," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(7), pages 1282-1297, July.
    24. Melville McMillan & Wing Chan, 2006. "University Efficiency: A Comparison and Consolidation of Results from Stochastic and Non-stochastic Methods," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30.
    25. Fandel, Gunter, 2007. "On the performance of universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: Government's redistribution of funds judged using DEA efficiency measures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(1), pages 521-533, January.
    26. Casu, B. & Thanassoulis, E., 2006. "Evaluating cost efficiency in central administrative services in UK universities," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 417-426, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joan Crespo & Jesús Peiró-Palomino & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2020. "Does university performance have an economic payoff for their home regions? Evidence for the Spanish provinces," Working Papers 2020/20, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    2. Dorys Y. Rodríguez-Castro & Juan Aparicio, 2021. "Introducing a functional framework for integrating the empirical evidence about higher education institutions’ functions and capabilities: A literature review," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 17(1), pages 231-267.
    3. El Gibari, Samira & Gómez, Trinidad & Ruiz, Francisco, 2018. "Evaluating university performance using reference point based composite indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1235-1250.
    4. DE LA TORRE, Eva M. & PEREZ-ESPARRELLS, Carmen & CASANI, Fernando, 2018. "The Policy Approach For The Third Mission Of Universities: The Spanish Case (1983 – 2018)," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 18(1), pages 13-30.
    5. Bornmann, Lutz & Gralka, Sabine & Anegón, Félix de Moya & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2023. "Efficiency of universities and research-focused institutions worldwide: The introduction of a new input indicator reflecting institutional staff numbers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    6. Liu, Xing & Wu, Xianhua & Zhang, Weipan, 2024. "A new DEA model and its application in performance evaluation of scientific research activities in the universities of China's double first-class initiative," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Zaira García-Tórtola & David Conesa & Joan Crespo & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2024. "Unlocking University Efficiency: A Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Working Papers 2024/05, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    8. Lutz Bornmann & Sabine Gralka & Félix de Moya Anegón & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2020. "Efficiency of Universities and Research-Focused Institutions Worldwide: An Empirical DEA Investigation Based on Institutional Publication Numbers and Estimated Academic Staff Numbers," CESifo Working Paper Series 8157, CESifo.
    9. Anatoliy G. Goncharuk, 2016. "Evaluating the Efficiency of Higher Education," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 5(2), pages 82-91, May.
    10. Claudia URDARI & Teodora Viorica FARCAȘ & Adriana TIRON-TUDOR, 2015. "Measuring The Heis Contribution To Society," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 8, pages 241-247, June.
    11. Compagnucci, Lorenzo & Spigarelli, Francesca, 2020. "The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    12. Yolanda Fernández-Santos & Almudena Martínez-Campillo & José Miguel Fernández-Fernández, 2015. "Determinantes de la eficiencia en las universidades públicas españolas: un análisis DEA en dos etapas," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 25, pages 491-508, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mehdi Rhaiem, 2017. "Measurement and determinants of academic research efficiency: a systematic review of the evidence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 581-615, February.
    2. Kristof De Witte & Laura López-Torres, 2017. "Efficiency in education: a review of literature and a way forward," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(4), pages 339-363, April.
    3. Renato A. Villano & Carolyn‐Dung T. T. Tran, 2021. "Survey on technical efficiency in higher education: A meta‐fractional regression analysis," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 110-135, February.
    4. Tzeremes, Nickolaos & Halkos, George, 2010. "A DEA approach for measuring university departments’ efficiency," MPRA Paper 24029, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Yang, Guo-liang & Fukuyama, Hirofumi & Song, Yao-yao, 2018. "Measuring the inefficiency of Chinese research universities based on a two-stage network DEA model," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 10-30.
    6. Zhang, Daqun & Banker, Rajiv D. & Li, Xiaoxuan & Liu, Wenbin, 2011. "Performance impact of research policy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 875-885, July.
    7. 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.
    8. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2020. "Measuring and explaining the production efficiency of Spanish universities using a non-parametric approach and a bootstrapped-truncated regression," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(2), pages 825-846, February.
    9. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2024. "Nonparametric efficiency measurement of undergraduate teaching by university size," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-29, March.
    10. Xianmei Wang & Hanhui Hu, 2017. "Sustainability in Chinese Higher Educational Institutions’ Social Science Research: A Performance Interface toward Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, October.
    11. George E. Halkos & Nickolaos G. Tzeremes & Stavros A. Kourtzidis, 2010. "An application of statistical interference in DEA models: An analysis of public owned university departments' efficiency," EERI Research Paper Series EERI_RP_2010_17, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    12. Zhang, Ganggang & Wu, Jie & Zhu, Qingyuan, 2020. "Performance evaluation and enrollment quota allocation for higher education institutions in China," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Johnes, Jill, 2015. "Operational Research in education," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 243(3), pages 683-696.
    14. Drebee, Hayder Abbas & Abdul Razak, Nor Azam, 2018. "Measuring the Efficiency of Colleges at the University of Al-Qadisiyah-Iraq: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(3), pages 153-166.
    15. Martín Rivero, Raquel, 2007. "La eficiencia productiva en el ámbito universitario: aspectos claves para su evaluación/The Productive Efficiency in the University: Key Aspects for its Evaluation," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 25, pages 793-812, Diciembre.
    16. Moncayo–Martínez, Luis A. & Ramírez–Nafarrate, Adrián & Hernández–Balderrama, María Guadalupe, 2020. "Evaluation of public HEI on teaching, research, and knowledge dissemination by Data Envelopment Analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    17. Sanjeet Singh & Prabhat Ranjan, 2018. "Efficiency analysis of non-homogeneous parallel sub-unit systems for the performance measurement of higher education," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 269(1), pages 641-666, October.
    18. Navas, Lina P. & Montes, Felipe & Abolghasem, Sepideh & Salas, Ricardo J. & Toloo, Mehdi & Zarama, Roberto, 2020. "Colombian higher education institutions evaluation," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    19. Larrán-Jorge, Manuel & García-Correas, Ángel, 2015. "¿Influyen los modelos de financiación autonómicos en la eficiencia de las universidades públicas españolas?," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 162-173.
    20. Ruiz, José L. & Segura, José V. & Sirvent, Inmaculada, 2015. "Benchmarking and target setting with expert preferences: An application to the evaluation of educational performance of Spanish universities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 242(2), pages 594-605.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher Education Institutions (HEI); efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); indicator; ranking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eaa:eerese:v:12:y2012:i:3_3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: M. Carmen Guisan (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.usc.es/economet/eaa.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.