One of the main goals of education policy is to enhance educational outcomes. If resources are used inefficiently, they will fail to maximise those outcomes. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to calculate technical efficiency of public spending on education for EU-28 using the latest higher education statistics available. Focusing on European higher education, conceptual and methodological issues related to the measurement and analysis of efficiency were discussed. The most efficient countries are identified and also countries for which real efficiency improvements are possible. A novel set of variables is used to highlight more appropriately the distinctiveness of the higher education sector and the relationship between input and outputs. The advantage of using Data Envelopment Analysis is that it identifies the best performing decision, making units and not the averages. This type of information about the efficiency of public spending on education is of importance to many parties. It can be used to promote ‘yardstick’ competition in the areas of education where the lack of market mechanisms is apparent, guide policy proposals, and to enhance the monitoring of education.
Key words: efficiency in education, higher education, public spending, data envelopment analysis, European Union.
Sadržaj: U ovom se radu analizira i mjeri efikasnost javnih sveučilišta u Hrvatskoj na uzorku od 75 visokoškolskih institucija kroz dva vremenska razdoblja. Koristi se metoda omeđivanja podataka. Ovaj tip analize može pridonijeti identifikaciji pokazatelja koji utječu na efikasnost visokoškolskih institucija. Također omogućuje komparativnu analizu javnih sveučilišta i isticanje pozitivnih primjera. Autori su koristili pet inputa i jedan output u modelu. Model je izlazno orijentirani s varijabilnim prinosima na opseg. Rezultati pokazuju da je relativna efikasnost javnih visokoškolskih institucija u Hrvatskoj niska. Samo je oko 10% institucija potpuno efikasno dok je prosječna efikasnost javnih visokoškolskih institucija nešto veća od 50%. Rezultati su zabrinjavajući, ali trebaju se interpretirati s oprezom. Glavno ograničenje u analizi je vezano uz nedostatne i nedostupne podatke na razini visokoškolskog sustava. Primjerice, nema usporedivih podataka o financiranju svake pojedine visokoškolske institucije, nema podataka o zapošljavanju diplomiranih studenata ili o objavama i istraživanjima akademskog osoblja na institucijama. Sve te varijable imaju značajan utjecaj na efikasnost i formuliranje obrazovne politike. Nema usporedivih podataka ni za privatne visokoškolske institucije u Hrvatskoj tako da je usporedba efikasnosti privatnog i javnog visokog školstva, za sad, neizvediva.
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