Assessment of Technical Efficiency in Higher Education in Ecuador
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This work aims to provide knowledge of efficiency; hence, it was proposed to assess the relative efficiency from a perspective of Data Envelopment Analysis in the Universities of Ecuador. A cross-sectional retrospective proposal was carried out, a data envelopment analysis was used as a reference, and a non-parametric technique allowed to measure the relative efficiency of decision-making units or DMUs. The CCR-O model revealed that 16 DMUs were efficient, whereas 20 DMUs were efficient under the BCC-O model, standing out both universities, Escuela Politécnica del Ejército and Litoral. Following the Bootstrap scale, 16 DMUs of the CCR-O model and 20 DMUs of the BCC-O reached Pure Technical Efficiency. Those units were found above the efficient frontier. The CCR-O model showed that 38 DMUs were inefficient within the inefficiency score, similar to the BCC-O model showing 34 inefficient DMUs. When comparing the real and specific values of Teaching-Research-Management, the inefficient DMUs obtained 33.33%. This input variable did not show a significant effect on the efficiency measures. While the inefficient DMUs reached 61.11% in Teaching-Research, 55.55% in Teaching, and 48.14% in Teaching-Management. Therefore, based on their real values, the units were over-endowed with parameters in their results. This work was designed following the output-oriented DEA–BCC model with performance to scale. This approach helped measure the performance of universities. However, its overall scope may misinterpret the real technical efficiency that depends on the universities’ resources.
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