On the efficiency of public higher education institutions in Portugal: an exploratory study

In a context of financial stringency like that characterizing the current economic landscape in Portugal and in several other countries, accountability and efficiency questions gain an additional relevance in the higher education sector. In this paper we apply DEA techniques to evaluate the comparative efficiency of public higher education institutions in Portugal. The analysis is performed for three separate groups: public universities, public polytechnics and the several faculties of University of Porto. By using several inputs and outputs at the institutional-level, we are able to identify the most technically efficient institutions that may work as benchmark in the sector. The results suggest that a great portion of institutions may be working inefficiently, contributing to a significant waste of resources. This exploratory study is a first step towards a deeper understanding of the efficiency determinants of higher education institutions.