Differences in cost structure and the evaluation of efficiency : the case of German universities

Johnes, Geraint and Schwarzenberger, Astrid (2011) Differences in cost structure and the evaluation of efficiency : the case of German universities. Education Economics, 19 (5). pp. 487-499. ISSN 0964-5292

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Abstract

A multiproduct cost function is estimated for German higher education institutions using a panel of data from recent years. The use of panel data allows a random parameter stochastic frontier model to be estimated, and this delivers new insights on the extent to which differences in costs between institutions producing similar vectors of outputs may be due to different cost structures, on the one hand, and efficiency, on the other. The approach used here therefore resembles in some respects the non‐parametric methods of efficiency evaluation, since different loss functions attach to different universities. We report also on measures of average incremental cost of provision and on returns to scale and scope.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Education Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3304
Subjects:
?? stochastic frontier; random parameter models; costs; higher educationeducationeconomics and econometrics ??
ID Code:
50738
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
28 Oct 2011 13:47
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
27 Feb 2024 00:49