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Evaluating cost efficiency in central administrative services in UK universities

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  • Casu, B.
  • Thanassoulis, E.

Abstract

This paper describes an attempt to evaluate cost efficiency in UK university central administration. The funding councils of higher education institutions have progressively evolved elaborate systems for measuring university performance in teaching quality and research. Indeed, funding of universities is linked to their performance in research. The allocation of resources between academic and administrative activities, on the other hand, has so far not been subject to scrutiny. Yet, expenditure on administration is typically some 30% of that allocated to academic activities. This paper sets up a data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework to identify practices leading to cost-efficient central administrative services in UK universities. The problems in defining the unit of assessment and the relationship between the inputs and the outputs are clearly demonstrated.

Suggested Citation

  • Casu, B. & Thanassoulis, E., 2006. "Evaluating cost efficiency in central administrative services in UK universities," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 417-426, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jomega:v:34:y:2006:i:5:p:417-426
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    12. 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).
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    14. 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.
    15. Tran, Carolyn D.T.T. & Battese, George E. & Villano, Renato A., 2020. "Administrative capacity assessment in higher education: The case of universities in Vietnam," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Tseng, Fang-Mei & Chiu, Yu-Jing & Chen, Ja-Shen, 2009. "Measuring business performance in the high-tech manufacturing industry: A case study of Taiwan's large-sized TFT-LCD panel companies," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 686-697, June.
    18. Darold Barnum & John Gleason, 2011. "Measuring efficiency under fixed proportion technologies," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 243-262, June.
    19. Kremantzis, Marios Dominikos & Beullens, Patrick & Kyrgiakos, Leonidas Sotirios & Klein, Jonathan, 2022. "Measurement and evaluation of multi-function parallel network hierarchical DEA systems," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Tommaso Agasisti & Guo-liang Yang & Yao-yao Song & Carolyn-Thi Thanh Dung Tran, 2021. "Evaluating the higher education productivity of Chinese and European “elite” universities using a meta-frontier approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 5819-5853, July.
    21. Degl’Innocenti, Marta & Matousek, Roman & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2019. "The interconnections of academic research and universities’ “third mission”: Evidence from the UK," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    22. 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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