Technical Efficiency and Productivity of Higher Education Institutions in the Nordic Countries

This study investigates the technical efficiency and productivity of Nordic higher education institutions (HEIs). One problem in previous research is the adjustment of efficiency scores for input quality. A problem avoided by using upper-secondary schooling grades. A second problem relates to heterogeneity concerning subjects and institutions among HEIs. Using a national resource allocation system, student achievements (ECTS-credits) are weighted according to subject-mix at the HEI level. For research production, a bibliometric publication measure is used, and highly cited publications are included to consider quality. A third problem when using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the lack of statistical inference. Therefore, bootstrapping is used to resolve this problem. The results, using data from 68 Nordic HEIs between 2011 and 2016, indicate an average inefficiency of 10.1% and a yearly productivity increase of around 0.4%. A second-stage correlation analysis shows that the inefficiency scores are positively correlated with staff turnover.