IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/col/000090/016109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic efficiency of public secondary education expenditure: How different are developed and developing countries?

Author

Listed:
  • Juliana Arias
  • Alejandro Torres

Abstract

This study measures the efficiency of public secondary education expenditure in 37 developing and developed countries using a two-step semi-parametric DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology. We first implement two cross-country frontier models for the 2012-2015 period: one using a physical input (i.e., teacher-pupil ratio) and one using monetary inputs (i.e., government and private expenditure per secondary student as a percentage of GDP). These results are corrected by the effects of GDP per capita and adult educational attainment as non-discretionary inputs. We obtain five important results: 1) developed and developing countries are similar in terms of the education production process due to the peers used in the non-parametric estimation of relative efficiency; 2) developing countries could increase their enrolment rates and PISA scores by approximately 22% and 21%, respectively, by maintaining the same teacher-pupil ratios and public-private spending levels; 3) Australia, Belgium, Finland, and Japan are efficient countries in the two frontier models; 4) robust empirical evidence indicates that both income and parental educational attainment negatively affect efficiency in both models; and 5) the physical frontier model significantly favours developing countries, bringing them closer to the efficiency frontier; however, it negatively affects developed countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliana Arias & Alejandro Torres, 2018. "Economic efficiency of public secondary education expenditure: How different are developed and developing countries?," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 80(4), pages 119-154, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:col:000090:016109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/pdf/10.13043/DYS.80.4
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Sutherland & Robert Price & Isabelle Joumard & Chantal Nicq, 2007. "Performance Indicators for Public Spending Efficiency in Primary and Secondary Education," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 546, OECD Publishing.
    2. Afonso, Antonio & St. Aubyn, Miguel, 2005. "Non-Parametric Approaches to Education and Health Efficiency in OECD Countries," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, November.
    3. 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.
    4. Nicola Gennaioli & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2013. "Human Capital and Regional Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(1), pages 105-164.
    5. Thomas Fuchs & Ludger Woessmann, 2004. "What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-Examination Using PISA Data (new title: What accounts for international differences in student performance? A re-examination us," CESifo Working Paper Series 1235, CESifo.
    6. World Bank, 2015. "World Development Indicators 2015," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21634.
    7. Thomas Fuchs & Ludger Wößmann, 2008. "What accounts for international differences in student prformance? A re-examination using PISA data," Studies in Empirical Economics, in: Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Stephen Machin (ed.), The Economics of Education and Training, pages 209-240, Springer.
    8. Mohamed Ben Mimoun, 2008. "Credit Constraints in Education: Evidence from International Data," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 33-60, May.
    9. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    10. Antonio Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(17), pages 2147-2164.
    11. António Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2005. "Public sector efficiency: An international comparison," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 321-347, June.
    12. António Afonso & Alma Romero & Emma Monsalve, 2013. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for Latin America," Working Papers Department of Economics 2013/20, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    13. Afonso, Antonio & St. Aubyn, Miguel, 2006. "Cross-country efficiency of secondary education provision: A semi-parametric analysis with non-discretionary inputs," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 476-491, May.
    14. repec:bla:econom:v:68:y:2001:i:272:p:465-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Robert J. Barro, 2013. "Education and Economic Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(2), pages 301-328, November.
    16. Simar, Leopold & Wilson, Paul W., 2007. "Estimation and inference in two-stage, semi-parametric models of production processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 31-64, January.
    17. Aleksander Aristovnik, 2013. "Relative Efficiency of Education Expenditures in Eastern Europe: A Non-parametric Approach," Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, ScientificPapers.org, vol. 3(3), pages 1-4, June.
    18. Theodore R. Breton, 2014. "Schooling and Economic Growth: What Have We Learned?," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 10923, Universidad EAFIT.
    19. repec:idb:brikps:80478 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11017 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Gupta, Sanjeev & Verhoeven, Marijn, 2001. "The efficiency of government expenditure: experiences from Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 433-467, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Azar Dufrechou, Paola, 2016. "The efficiency of public education spending in Latin America: A comparison to high-income countries," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 188-203.
    2. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2023. "Government Spending and Tax Revenue Decentralization and Public Sector Efficiency: Do Natural Disasters matter?," Working Papers REM 2023/0271, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    3. Legenzova Renata & Gaigalienė Asta & Rudytė Dalia & Skunčikienė Solveiga & Kazlauskienė Vilma, 2023. "Assessment of public education expenditure efficiency across Lithuanian municipalities," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 19(4), pages 63-79, December.
    4. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2021. "Taxation and Public Spending Efficiency: An International Comparison," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(3), pages 356-383, September.
    5. Ranjan Kumar Mohanty & N.R. Bhanumurthy, 2018. "Assessing Public Expenditure Efficiency at Indian States," Working Papers id:12837, eSocialSciences.
    6. Tumaniants, Karen A. (Туманянц, Карэн) & Sesina, Julia E. (Сесина, Юлия), 2017. "Social Expenditures of Russian Regions in Terms of “Input-Output” [Расходы На Социальную Политику Российских Регионов В Координатах «Затраты — Результат»]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 128-149, October.
    7. António Afonso & Miguel St. Aubyn, 2006. "Relative Efficiency of Health Provision: a DEA Approach with Non-discretionary Inputs," Working Papers Department of Economics 2006/33, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    8. Antonis Adam & Manthos Delis & Pantelis Kammas, 2014. "Fiscal decentralization and public sector efficiency: evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 17-49, February.
    9. Afonso, Antonio & St. Aubyn, Miguel, 2006. "Cross-country efficiency of secondary education provision: A semi-parametric analysis with non-discretionary inputs," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 476-491, May.
    10. António Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht, 2019. "How “Big” Should Government Be?," Working Papers REM 2019/78, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    11. Aristovnik, Aleksander & Obadić, Alka, 2014. "Measuring relative efficiency of secondary education in selected EU and OECD countries: the case of Slovenia and Croatia," MPRA Paper 63936, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Cosmin Eugen ENACHE, 2012. "The efficiency of expenditure-related redistributive policies in the European countries," Timisoara Journal of Economics, West University of Timisoara, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 5(18), pages 380-394.
    13. António Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Income distribution determinants and public spending efficiency," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(3), pages 367-389, September.
    14. Sona Stikarova, 2014. "Economic growth, inequality and efficiency," Department of Economic Policy Working Paper Series 006, Department of Economic Policy, Faculty of National Economy, University of Economics in Bratislava.
    15. Aleksander Aristovnik, 2013. "Relative Efficiency of Education Expenditures in Eastern Europe: A Non-parametric Approach," Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, ScientificPapers.org, vol. 3(3), pages 1-4, June.
    16. Antonio Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(17), pages 2147-2164.
    17. Onrubia-Fernández, Jorge & Fuentes, Antonio Jesús, 2017. "How costly are public sector inefficiencies? A theoretical framework for rationalising fiscal consolidations," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 11, pages 1-19.
    18. Ant—nio Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2023. "Government spending efficiency, measurement and applications: A cross-country efficiency dataset," Chapters, in: António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio (ed.), Handbook on Public Sector Efficiency, chapter 3, pages 44-71, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Hauner, David & Kyobe, Annette, 2010. "Determinants of Government Efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1527-1542, November.
    20. Jean-François Brun & Constantin Thierry Compaore, 2021. "Public Expenditures Efficiency On Education Distribution in Developing Countries," Working Papers hal-03116615, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Secondary education; government expenditure; private expenditure; efficiency; DEA.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

    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:col:000090:016109. 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: Universidad De Los Andes-Cede (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceandco.html .

    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.