Valérie Vierstraete

Technological change and efficiency in the presence of quasi-fixed inputs: A DEA application to the hospital sector

Abstract Quasi-fixed inputs are present in virtually all sectors of the economy and cannot be adjusted to their optimal value even in the long-run. This constraint must be incorporated in models to correctly measure efficiency and technological change. Assuming that all inputs can be freely and instantly set to their optimal level overestimates firms/sectors/countries’ capacity to adjust, biases results, and weakens DEA method as a working tools for managers. We propose a modified DEA approach introducing quasi-fixed inputs and apply the method to hospital emergency services in Montreal to show that such limitations can be lifted.

An evaluation of the efficiency of Quebec's school boards using the Data Envelopment Analysis method

In this paper the efficiency of Québecs school boards during a period of severe cutbacks in their finance is examined. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, the average efficiency is found to be relatively high. In spite of this, potential savings could be achieved if school boards were fully efficient. Results were found to depend heavily on school boards’ socio- economic conditions, thus they were subjected to Tobit analysis and the boards’ corrected efficiencies recalculated. It is concluded that inefficiencies cost 800 million dollars of which 200 million dollars come from unfavourable socio-economic conditions.

Malmquist indexes with quasi-fixed inputs: an application to school districts in Québec

In a non-market environment, there is no pressure coming from competitors that leads firms toward efficiency. Public education system is the target of many critiques as being such an example of inefficiency. Some papers attempted to measure the level of inefficiency of schools or school districts using different methods. Unfortunately, those methods do not include an important aspect of the school management that is characterized by the incapacity to adjust some inputs like buildings and equipment to their optimal level. In this paper, we use a generalization of Malmquist indexes that introduces this lack of flexibility in the measurement of productivity and we apply this method in the case of school districts in the Province of Québec (Canada).

Performance of primary education in Burkina Faso: a multi-output stochastic frontier analysis

Abstract Primary education plays an important role in the development of human capital in developing countries. Consequently, Burkina Faso has taken steps to ensure both access to, and better quality of, primary education. However, comparisons between the different provinces of Burkina Faso reveal that there is a greater disparity between provinces in terms of access to, and the quality of, education, than there is in the provision of resources. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the efficiency of the resources used in providing primary education in Burkina Faso. We apply a stochastic frontier model in order to estimate the efficiency with which the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso provide primary education. The proposed model not only allows two outputs for primary education to be included, but also provides for an assessment of the factors that may affect inefficiency. Our results indicate that, overall, the primary education system in Burkina Faso operates at an efficiency level of approximately 63%. In addition, the living conditions of the population, as well as some factors internal to the education system, appear to have a relationship with the efficiency of primary education in the various provinces of Burkina Faso.