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Subject mix and productivity in Portuguese universities

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  • Sarrico, Cláudia S.
  • Teixeira, Pedro N.
  • Rosa, Maria J.
  • Cardoso, Margarida F.

Abstract

Recent changes in higher education, especially associated with its massification, have led to calls for more accountability and to an increasing need to evaluate universities' performance. However, comparing universities with different subject mixes poses some significant problems. In this article, a linear mixed-effect model methodology allowing for random effects at university level is used to measure the productivity of Portuguese public universities, taking into account their subject composition, for a period of five years (1997-2001). The results show that subject mix is an important factor in explaining the variability in productivity between universities. However, even taking account of subject mix, a lot of inefficiency is found in the system, and a significant variability in productivity among universities exists.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarrico, Cláudia S. & Teixeira, Pedro N. & Rosa, Maria J. & Cardoso, Margarida F., 2009. "Subject mix and productivity in Portuguese universities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 287-295, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:197:y:2009:i:1:p:287-295
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Daraio, Cinzia & Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Simar, Léopold, 2015. "Rankings and university performance: A conditional multidimensional approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(3), pages 918-930.
    3. Mariana Cunha & Vera Rocha, 2012. "On the Efficiency of Public Higher Education Institutions in Portugal: An Exploratory Study," FEP Working Papers 468, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    4. Driss El Kadiri Boutchich, 2020. "Factors with significant impact on efficiency of research laboratories: case of the public university," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1317-1333, August.
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    6. Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Belingheri, Paola & Secondi, Luca, 2021. "The research productivity of universities. A multilevel and multidisciplinary analysis on European institutions," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    7. José Manuel Pastor & Lorenzo Serrano, 2016. "The determinants of the research output of universities: specialization, quality and inefficiencies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 1255-1281, November.
    8. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Luca Secondi, 2017. "The determinants of research performance in European universities: a large scale multilevel analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1147-1178, September.
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    11. Shamohammadi, Mehdi & Oh, Dong-hyun, 2019. "Measuring the efficiency changes of private universities of Korea: A two-stage network data envelopment analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).

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