EVALUATION OF EXPENDITURE EFFICIENCY OF THE FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS OF BRAZILIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the technical efficiency of Brazilian Federal Institutions of Higher Education (FIHE). Therefore, it is sought to identify which FIHE can be considered efficient given the contribution of public expenditure applied in them, as well as to determine the factors that affect this efficiency. Methodology: The empirical strategy adopted for this purpose consists of two stages. Firstly, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model was used to obtain the efficiency scores of the FIHE, making it possible to rank them in order to identify the most technically efficient units. Then, with the aforementioned scores, tobit regression models were estimated to find the main factors that affect the efficiency of the universities. Findings: The results of the DEA approach indicated that in order to increase the rationality of the resources in Brazilian higher education (at the federal level) it would be necessary, considering the current level of attendance and the General Index of Courses (GIC), a cost reduction of about 25%, a decrease in the number of teachers around 22%, and in particular a reduction in the number of administrative staff by approximately 43%. Regarding the results of the regression analysis, these indicated that the FIHE’s efficiency can be influenced by both the characteristics of the students and the region, as well as by management factors. The research points out how a managerial improvement could be achieved by increasing the student-teacher ratio and decreasing the staff-teacher ratio. Contributions:  The contribution of the research is in the sense of supporting a better allocation of educational resources, also helping to formulate more effective public policies.