Geraint Johnes

Research funding and performance in U.K. University Departments of Economics: A frontier analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to investigate the technical efficiency of U.K. university departments of economics as producers of research. Particular attention is paid to the role of external funding of research as an input into the research process. The data set used is an extended version of the one which informed the 1989 Universities Funding Council peer review, and the results obtained here are compared with those obtained by the Council. We conclude that DEA has a positive contribution to make in the development of meaningful indicators of university performance.

Stochastic frontier estimation of a CES cost function: the case of higher education in Britain

Abstract Many estimates exist in the literature of multi-product cost functions estimated across a sample of institutions of higher education. Typically these have not employed the appropriate frontier estimation techniques. The cost functions usually estimated — such as the constant elasticity of substitution (CES) function — are highly non-linear, and the standard software packages do not allow stochastic frontier estimation in such cases. We derive and maximise the likelihood function associated with this problem, and hence construct measures of economies of scale and scope which obtain in British higher education. We use the half-normal residuals generated by the stochastic frontier estimation to construct measures of technical efficiency for each university in our sample.

The effect of competition on the efficiency of secondary schools in England

Abstract In this paper we calculate the technical efficiencies, based upon multiple outputs – school exam performance and attendance rates – of all secondary schools in England over the period 1993–1998. We then estimate models to examine the determinants of efficiency in a particular year, and the determinants of the change in efficiency over the period. Our results suggest that the greater the degree of competition between schools the more efficient they are. The strength of this effect has also increased over time which is consistent with the evolution of the quasi-market in secondary education. Competition is also found to be an important determinant of the change in efficiency over time. There is, however, some evidence of conditional convergence between schools.

International Handbook on the Economics of Education

Contents: Introduction 1. Human Capital and Rates of Return 2. Signalling and Screening 3. The Economic Assessment of Training Schemes 4. Education and Economic Growth 5. Skill-Biased Technical Change and Educational Outcomes 6. The Social and External Benefits of Education 7. School Finance 8. Funding Higher Education 9. Exploring the Effect of Class Size on Student Achievement: What Have We Learned Over the Past Two Decades? 10. The Economics of Secondary Schooling 11. Determinants of Educational Success in Higher Education 12. Standards and Grade Inflation 13. The School-to-Work Transition 14. The Labour Market for Teachers 15. Multi-product Cost Functions for Universities: Economies of Scale and Scope 16. Efficiency Measurement 17. Education, Child Labour and Development 18. Education and Housing Index Contributors: S.L. Averett, S. Bradley, S. Brown, E. Cohn, S.T. Cooper, P.J. Dolton, D. Greenaway, M. Haynes, W.H. Hoyt, S. Jafarey, G. Johnes, J. Johnes, S. Lahiri, S. Machin, M.C. McLennan, W.W. McMahon, D. Mitch, R.A. Naylor, A.N. Nguyen, H.A. Patrinos, G. Psacharopoulos, P. Santiago, J.G. Sessions, J. Smith, P. Stevens, J. Taylor, M. Weale

Higher education institutions' costs and efficiency: Taking the decomposition a further step

A multiproduct cost function is estimated for English higher education institutions using a panel of data from recent years. The panel approach allows estimation by means of a random parameter stochastic frontier model which provides considerable new insights in that it allows the impact on costs of inter-institutional differences in the cost function itself to be distinguished from inter-institutional differences in efficiency. The approach used here therefore resembles in some respects the non-parametric methods of efficiency evaluation. We report also on measures of average incremental cost of provision and on returns to scale and scope.

Costs and Efficiency of Higher Education Institutions in England: A DEA Analysis

As student numbers in higher education in the UK have expanded during recent years, it has become increasingly important to understand its cost structure. This study applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to higher education institutions in England to assess their cost structure, efficiency and productivity. The paper complements an earlier study that used parametric methods to analyse the same panel data. Interestingly, DEA provides estimates of subject-specific unit costs that are in the same ballpark as those provided by the parametric methods. The paper then extends the previous analysis and finds that further student number increases of the order of 20–27% are feasible through exploiting operating and scale efficiency gains and also adjusting student mix. Finally the paper uses a Malmquist index approach to assess productivity change in the UK higher education. The results reveal that for a majority of institutions productivity has actually decreased during the study period.

Beyond frontiers: comparing the efficiency of higher education decision‐making units across more than one country

We employ Data Envelopment Analysis to compute the technical efficiency of Italian and English higher education institutions. Our results show that, in relation to the country‐specific frontier, institutions in both countries are typically very efficient. However, institutions in England are more efficient than those in Italy when we compare jointly their performances. We also look at the evolution of technical efficiency scores over a four‐year period, and find that, in line with an error‐correction hypothesis, Italian universities are improving their technical efficiency while English universities are obtaining stable scores. Policy implications are addressed.

Heterogeneity and the evaluation of efficiency: the case of Italian universities

A random parameters stochastic frontier model is applied to Italian data in order to evaluate the cost function and efficiency of higher education institutions. The method yields useful information about inter-institutional variation in cost structure and technical efficiency. Returns to scale and scope are evaluated for the typical university, and it is found that these returns are almost ubiquitously decreasing, a finding with clear policy implications.

Determinants of research output in economics departments in British universities

Abstract The research output of economics departments in British universities is estimated by means of an analysis of publications in 20 major journals. It is shown that most of the variation in research output between departments can be explained by differences in inputs. A regression analysis enables the effect on output of changes in inputs to be quantified. The results obtained here are compared with the UGC ratings.

Scale and technical efficiency in the production of economic research

Data envelopment analysis is applied to the research assessment exercise data collected by the Higher Education Funding Councils in 1992, to study the relative performance of UK university departments of economics. The analysis throws light on returns to scale and on the characteristics deemed desirable by the peer review panel.