Technical efficiency and total factor productivity growth of selected public universities in Africa: 2000-2007

Abstract

The overall objective of the study was to examine the relative technical efficiency and investigate total factor productivity growth of 15 selected African public universities during the period, 2000-2007. The relative technical efficiencies were examined using the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis technique. The total factor productivity growth for African universities was investigated using the DEA-Based Malmquist Productivity Index. Student enrolments and university staff were used as input variables while ISI papers and number of graduates were the output variables in the estimation of the General Model, Teaching-Only Model and Research-Only Model. The operating environment was adjusted to ascertain the extent to which it affects both the relative efficiency and productivity of the selected African public universities. The selected African public universities posted mean technical efficiency score of: 0.886, 0.900 and 0.971 for the general model, teaching-only and research-only model, respectively. The selected African Public universities were therefore on average more technically efficient in their research function than in their teaching function. Total factor productivity gains for the selected African public universities averaged at 7.5%, 0.7% and 6.8% for the general model, teaching-only model and research-only model, respectively. Productivity improvements for African universities were therefore majorly a result of research productivity rather than teaching productivity before and after adjusting for the operating environment. Productivity gains for the selected African public universities were, however, mainly attributed to technological progress rather than technical efficiency change. The following policy recommendations were made regarding the relative technical efficiency and total factor productivity change of the selected African Public universities: (i) technically efficient universities in the teaching and or research functions should not alter their scales of operation otherwise they would become inefficient, (ii) universities that displayed decreasing returns to scale should consider reducing their student enrollment and or increasing their graduation rates and publications to become teaching and or research efficient, (iii) universities that registered increasing returns to scale in their teaching and or research functions were small in their operations should consider scaling up their teaching and or research functions to become teaching or research efficient.