Advances in internal management systems in Spanish public universities: empirical evidence of university professor time

Purpose In recent decades, various analytical accounting models have been proposed for public universities in response to the recurrent need for expenditure rationalization and efficiency in public administration. However, evidence from the university sector suggests that the implementation of these models has not been widespread or consolidated. This lack of implementation is attributed to several factors, such as the need for greater institutional support to foster the implementation of such management systems. Another difficulty stems from the lack of information on the cost allocation criteria that determine the actual consumption of resources by different university activities. One of the main cost elements of universities is the costs of academic staff, and therefore a fundamental cost allocation criterion is the time dedicated to the main activities of teaching and research. Design/methodology/approach To make progress in cost allocation, this paper provides empirical evidence on the time spent by university professors on each activity. The results are based on a sample of 1,256 professors from the Economics and Business faculties of Spanish public universities. Findings The findings obtained from the analysis of the data show the existence of significant differences in the time spent by academic staff according to gender, professional category, years of work experience or management positions, while other characteristics such as university or department do not show significant differences. Originality/value Determining the pattern of behaviour of time spent according to the characteristics of the academic staff is a fundamental starting point for a more accurate allocation of costs to the reality of the university.