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Measuring the Efficiency and Productivity of British Universities: An Application of DEA and the Malmquist Approach

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  • AT Flegg

    (Leeds Metropolitan University)

  • DO Allen

    (University of the West of England)

  • K Field

    (University of the West of England)

  • TW Thurlow

    (University of the West of England)

Abstract

This paper uses data envelopment analysis to examine the technical efficiency (TE) of 45 British universities in the period 1980/81 to 1992/93. This period was chosen primarily because it was characterized by major changes in public funding and in student : staff ratios. To shed light on the causes of variations in efficiency, TE is decomposed into pure technical efficiency (PTE), congestion efficiency (CE) and scale efficiency (SE). The analysis indicates that there was a substantial rise in the weighted geometric mean TE score during the study period, although this rise was most noticeable between 1987/88 and 1990/91. The rising TE scores are attributed largely to the gains in PTE and CE, with SE playing a minor role. The Malmquist approach is then used to distinguish between changes in technical efficiency and intertemporal shifts in the efficiency frontier. The results reveal that total factor productivity rose by 51.5% between 1980/81 and 1992/93, and that most of this increase was due to a substantial outward shift in the efficiency frontier during this period.

Suggested Citation

  • AT Flegg & DO Allen & K Field & TW Thurlow, 2003. "Measuring the Efficiency and Productivity of British Universities: An Application of DEA and the Malmquist Approach," Working Papers 0304, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0304
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. A. T. Flegg & D. O. Allen & K. Field & T. W. Thurlow, 2004. "Measuring the efficiency of British universities: a multi-period data envelopment analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 231-249.
    3. 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).
    4. Cuenca, Janet S., 2011. "Efficiency of State Universities and Colleges in the Philippines: a Data Envelopment Analysis," Discussion Papers DP 2011-14, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    5. Brzezicki Łukasz & Pietrzak Piotr & Cieciora Małgorzata, 2020. "The Total Efficiency of Teaching Activity of Polish Higher Education Institutions," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 12(1), pages 19-30, January.
    6. Mammadov, Rza & Aypay, Ahmet, 2020. "Efficiency analysis of research universities in Turkey," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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