Approaching Effects of the Economic Crisis on University Efficiency - A Comparative Study of Germany and Italy
UO‐Working‐Paper Series 01‐16
22 Pages Posted: 30 Nov 2016 Last revised: 12 Aug 2017
Date Written: November 28, 2016
Abstract
In this paper, we compare the efficiency of the Italian and German university system in the process of translating public funding into the multiple outputs of a university, i.e. graduating students, publishing research, and patenting activity. We do this with a particular focus on the policies implemented following the financial crisis in 2007/08. Using a sample of 133 public universities, of which 73 public universities in Germany and 60 public Italian universities, observed over the period 2006-2011, we find that Italian universities are significantly better in terms of cost efficiency than German universities. The crisis does not show a general impact, while the treatment effect indicates that Italian universities coped better during the crisis than their German counterparts at a highly significant level.
Keywords: higher education, economic crisis, governance, data envelopment analysis, malmquist productivity index
JEL Classification: H11, H12, I2, N30
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