Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Efficiency in Education - A Multilevel Analysis

Waldo, Staffan LU (2003) In Efficiency in Education
Abstract
Sweden spends altogether about 4.5% of GDP on primary, secondary and upper secondary school. Considering the magnitude of this investment it is important that these resources are used efficiently. In this thesis efficiency in public education is analysed on three different levels: The municipal level, the school level, and the individual level. Efficiency is estimated using a linear programming technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Each producer is compared with the best performing producers in the sample, and for each producer an efficiency score is estimated. The scores are here used for further analysis of the estimated efficiency.



In the first essay, efficiency is analysed for primary and secondary school in... (More)
Sweden spends altogether about 4.5% of GDP on primary, secondary and upper secondary school. Considering the magnitude of this investment it is important that these resources are used efficiently. In this thesis efficiency in public education is analysed on three different levels: The municipal level, the school level, and the individual level. Efficiency is estimated using a linear programming technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Each producer is compared with the best performing producers in the sample, and for each producer an efficiency score is estimated. The scores are here used for further analysis of the estimated efficiency.



In the first essay, efficiency is analysed for primary and secondary school in 287 Swedish municipalities in the school year 1999/2000. Average efficiency is between 0.90 and 0.96, implying that the municipalities on average could decrease their input use with 4-10 percent without decreasing their results. Focus in the paper is on competition and political factors influencing efficiency in the production of public education. Competition from private schools has no significant influence on efficiency. Among the political variables we find efficiency to be related to political majorities but we find no effects from taxes or voter characteristics.



In the second essay, efficiency is estimated for 840 Swedish secondary schools in 1994/95. Taking differences in the production environment into account in the efficiency modelling, mean efficiency is between 0.84 and 0.87. Focus in the analysis is on how private school competition and teacher characteristics influence efficiency. Private school competition has a positive effect, implying that schools facing more private school competition are more efficient producers. Among the teacher characteristics, positive effects are found for variables related to teacher experience.



In the third essay the individual student is thought of as being responsible for her own education and inefficiency is estimated for 59 354 students graduating from upper secondary school in 1999. In order to get estimates for larger groups of students, the individual inefficiency is aggregated. Problems with aggregation when estimating inefficiency in multiple dimensions are discussed. In the analysis special attention is given educational programs where one of the sexes is in a clear minority. We find no systematic evidence that the sex in minority has either higher or lower mean inefficiency, but the sexes seem to allocate outputs differently in these programs. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Kostnaden för grund- och gymnasieskolan i Sverige motsvarar idag ca 4,5% av BNP. Med tanke på investeringens storlek är det viktigt att dessa resurser används effektivt. I avhandlingen studeras effektivitet inom den kommunala skolan på tre nivåer: Kommunal nivå, skolnivå och individuell nivå. Effektiviteten skattas i linjärprogrammeringsmodeller, genom så kallad Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Varje producent jämförs med de bästa i urvalet och för varje producent skattas ett effektivitetstal som i avhandlingen används för vidare analys av orsakerna till effektivitetsskillnader.



I den första uppsatsen analyseras grundskolan i 287 kommuner för läsåret 1999/2000. Genomsnittlig... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Kostnaden för grund- och gymnasieskolan i Sverige motsvarar idag ca 4,5% av BNP. Med tanke på investeringens storlek är det viktigt att dessa resurser används effektivt. I avhandlingen studeras effektivitet inom den kommunala skolan på tre nivåer: Kommunal nivå, skolnivå och individuell nivå. Effektiviteten skattas i linjärprogrammeringsmodeller, genom så kallad Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Varje producent jämförs med de bästa i urvalet och för varje producent skattas ett effektivitetstal som i avhandlingen används för vidare analys av orsakerna till effektivitetsskillnader.



I den första uppsatsen analyseras grundskolan i 287 kommuner för läsåret 1999/2000. Genomsnittlig effektivitet är mellan 0.90 och 0.96, vilket innebär att kommunerna skulle kunna minska resurserna till skolan med 4-10% utan att minska resultaten. Fokus i uppsatsen är på hur konkurrens och politiska faktorer påverkar effektiviteten. Studien finner ingen effekt av konkurrens från friskolor. Vi finner inte heller att variabler som skattesatser eller väljarkaraktäristika påverkar effektiviteten, däremot är effektiviteten relaterad till politiska majoriteter.



I den andra uppsatsen analyseras 840 högstadieskolor för läsåret 1994/95. I modeller som tar hänsyn till skillnader i elevbakgrund är effektiviteten mellan 0.84 och 0.87. Analysen fokuserar på konkurrens från friskolor och på lärarkaraktäristika. I analysen har en hög andel friskolor en positiv effekt på effektiviteten. Bland lärarkaraktäristika har variabler som är relaterade till erfarenhet en positiv inverkan på effektiviteten.



I den tredje uppsatsen analyseras 59 354 elever som gick ut gymnasiet 1999. Individen ses som ansvarig för sin egen utbildning och individens effektivitet skattas i relation till andra elever. För att få skattningar för grupper av elever, tex eleverna på ett program, aggregeras den skattade ineffektiviteten. Problem som uppstår vid aggregering när effektiviteten mäts i flera dimensioner diskuteras. Speciell fokus i uppsatsen ligger på program med ojämn könsfördelning. Analysen finner inga systematiska skillnader i effektivitet mellan det kön som är i majoritet och det som är i minoritet, men hur individer väljer att fördela sina resurser skiljer sig åt mellan könen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Grosskopf, Shawna, Oregon State University
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
economic systems, economic policy, Nationalekonomi, ekonometri, ekonomisk teori, ekonomiska system, ekonomisk politik, economic theory, econometrics, Data Envelopment Analysis, Economics, Education, Efficiency
in
Efficiency in Education
pages
120 pages
publisher
Department of Economics, Lund University
defense location
EC3:210
defense date
2003-09-22 10:15:00
ISSN
0460-0029
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Article: 1)Municipal Efficiency 2)School Efficiency 3) Individual Efficiency
id
9b41098a-f9d4-4d2c-873b-b309f3fe7438 (old id 466068)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:50:08
date last changed
2019-05-21 13:50:32
@phdthesis{9b41098a-f9d4-4d2c-873b-b309f3fe7438,
  abstract     = {{Sweden spends altogether about 4.5% of GDP on primary, secondary and upper secondary school. Considering the magnitude of this investment it is important that these resources are used efficiently. In this thesis efficiency in public education is analysed on three different levels: The municipal level, the school level, and the individual level. Efficiency is estimated using a linear programming technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Each producer is compared with the best performing producers in the sample, and for each producer an efficiency score is estimated. The scores are here used for further analysis of the estimated efficiency.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the first essay, efficiency is analysed for primary and secondary school in 287 Swedish municipalities in the school year 1999/2000. Average efficiency is between 0.90 and 0.96, implying that the municipalities on average could decrease their input use with 4-10 percent without decreasing their results. Focus in the paper is on competition and political factors influencing efficiency in the production of public education. Competition from private schools has no significant influence on efficiency. Among the political variables we find efficiency to be related to political majorities but we find no effects from taxes or voter characteristics.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the second essay, efficiency is estimated for 840 Swedish secondary schools in 1994/95. Taking differences in the production environment into account in the efficiency modelling, mean efficiency is between 0.84 and 0.87. Focus in the analysis is on how private school competition and teacher characteristics influence efficiency. Private school competition has a positive effect, implying that schools facing more private school competition are more efficient producers. Among the teacher characteristics, positive effects are found for variables related to teacher experience.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the third essay the individual student is thought of as being responsible for her own education and inefficiency is estimated for 59 354 students graduating from upper secondary school in 1999. In order to get estimates for larger groups of students, the individual inefficiency is aggregated. Problems with aggregation when estimating inefficiency in multiple dimensions are discussed. In the analysis special attention is given educational programs where one of the sexes is in a clear minority. We find no systematic evidence that the sex in minority has either higher or lower mean inefficiency, but the sexes seem to allocate outputs differently in these programs.}},
  author       = {{Waldo, Staffan}},
  issn         = {{0460-0029}},
  keywords     = {{economic systems; economic policy; Nationalekonomi; ekonometri; ekonomisk teori; ekonomiska system; ekonomisk politik; economic theory; econometrics; Data Envelopment Analysis; Economics; Education; Efficiency}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Economics, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Efficiency in Education}},
  title        = {{Efficiency in Education - A Multilevel Analysis}},
  year         = {{2003}},
}