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Does competition improve public school efficiency? A spatial analysis

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  • Misra, Kaustav
  • Grimes, Paul W.
  • Rogers, Kevin E.

Abstract

Advocates for educational reform frequently call for policies to increase competition between schools because it is argued that market forces naturally lead to greater efficiencies, including improved student learning, when schools face competition. Researchers examining this issue are confronted with difficulties in defining reasonable measures of competition within local educational markets. We approach the problem through the application of Geographical Information System (GIS) tools to the development of a school competition index (SCI) for the state of Mississippi. The SCI captures the degree of competition each public school in the state faces from peer private schools spatially located within their local market area. We find that higher degrees of competition from private schools significantly increase public primary and high school efficiency, as measured by the proficiency rates on high-stakes examinations. It is anticipated that the current results will inform policymakers regarding the viability of competition-based reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Misra, Kaustav & Grimes, Paul W. & Rogers, Kevin E., 2012. "Does competition improve public school efficiency? A spatial analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1177-1190.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:6:p:1177-1190
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.08.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Akyol, Metin, 2016. "Do educational vouchers reduce inequality and inefficiency in education?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 149-167.
    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. Misra, Kaustav & Grimes, Paul W. & Rogers, Kevin E., 2013. "The effects of community social capital on school performance: A spatial approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 106-111.
    4. Gonzalez Canche, Manuel Sacramento, 2014. "Localized competition in the non-resident student market," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 21-35.
    5. Shawna Grosskopf & Kathy Hayes & Lori Taylor & William Weber, 2015. "Centralized or decentralized control of school resources? A network model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 139-150, April.
    6. Kalinca Léia Becker, 2023. "An analysis of Fundeb's contribution to the quality of public education in Brazilian municipalities," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 879-896, May.
    7. Richard J. Cebula & Joshua C. Hall & Maria Y. Tackett, 2017. "Non-public competition and public school performance: evidence from West Virginia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(12), pages 1185-1193, March.
    8. Aparicio, Juan & Cordero, Jose M. & Gonzalez, Martin & Lopez-Espin, Jose J., 2018. "Using non-radial DEA to assess school efficiency in a cross-country perspective: An empirical analysis of OECD countries," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 9-20.
    9. López-Torres, Laura & Nicolini, Rosella & Prior, Diego, 2017. "Does strategic interaction affect demand for school places? A conditional efficiency approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 89-103.
    10. López-Torres, Laura & Johnes, Jill & Elliott, Caroline & Polo, Cristina, 2021. "The effects of competition and collaboration on efficiency in the UK independent school sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-53.
    11. Shawna Grosskopf & Kathy Hayes & Lori L. Taylor, 2014. "Applied efficiency analysis in education," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 19-26.
    12. Garcia-Diaz, Rocio & del Castillo, Ernesto & Cabral, René, 2016. "School competition and efficiency in elementary schools in Mexico," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 23-34.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Market; Competition; Spatial analysis; Efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

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