Scale and pure efficiencies of New Zealand secondary schools

William R J Alexander; M Jaforullah

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Scale and pure efficiencies of New Zealand secondary schools

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Scale and pure efficiencies of New Zealand secondary schools

William R J Alexander and M Jaforullah

Proceedings of EcoMod 2005, International Conference on Economic Modeling, pp.1-36

EcoMod, International Conference on Economic Modeling, 2005 (Istanbul, Turkey, 29-Jun-2005–02-Jul-2005)

EcoMod Network

2005

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Abstract

Economic Theory

scale efficiency

secondary schools

New Zealand

The scale efficiency of schools is a controversial matter. Government quite naturally wants to capture such scale efficiencies as are available, while parents and educators often favour smaller schools because of their perceived quality advantages that are not easily measurable. We use data envelopment analysis to calculate three different measures of the efficiency with which New Zealand secondary schools transform basic inputs into outputs. There is considerable variation across schools on all three measures: scale, pure and overall efficiencies. We more closely examine our sample broken down by ownership type, by single-sex/co-educational and by location. All of these factors influence the efficiency measures, with scale disadvantages evident in rural versus urban schools, Integrated schools generally outperforming State schools and single-sex schools outperforming co-educational ones, especially in pure efficiency terms. We then present evidence that higher socio-economic status of a school's community confers both scale and pure efficiency advantages and use regression analysis to quantify the effects at work.

Details

Title: Scale and pure efficiencies of New Zealand secondary schools
Authors: William R J Alexander (Author) - University of Otago, New Zealand
M Jaforullah (Author) - University of Otago, New Zealand
Publication details: Proceedings of EcoMod 2005, International Conference on Economic Modeling, pp.1-36
Conference details: EcoMod, International Conference on Economic Modeling, 2005 (Istanbul, Turkey, 29-Jun-2005–02-Jul-2005)
Publisher: EcoMod Network
Date published: 2005
Organisation Unit: School of Business and Creative Industries; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; USC Business School - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99448786802621
Output Type: Conference paper

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