Measuring the research performance of Chinese high

MeasuringtheresearchperformanceofChinesehighereducationinstitutionsusingdataenvelopmentanalysisJillJOHNES⁎,LiYUDepartmentofEconomics,LancasterUniversity,LancasterLA14YX,UnitedKingdomarticleinfoabstractArticlehistory:Received13July2007Revised11July2008Accepted30August2008Thisstudyusesdataenvelopmentanalysis(DEA)toexaminetherelativeefficiencyintheproductionofresearchof109Chineseregularuniversitiesin2003and2004.Outputvariablesmeasuretheimpactandproductivityofresearch;inputvariablesreflectstaff,students,capitalandresources.Meanefficiencyisjustover90%whenallinputandoutputvariablesareincludedinthemodel,andthisfallstojustover80%whenstudent-relatedinputvariablesareexcludedfromthemodel.Therankingsoftheuniversitiesacrossmodelsandtimeperiodsarehighlysignificantlycorrelated.Furtherinvestigationsuggeststhatmeanresearchefficiencyishigherincomprehensiveuniversitiescomparedtospecialistuniversities,andinuniversitieslocatedinthecoastalregioncomparedtothoseinthewesternregionofChina.TheformerresultofferssupportfortherecentmergeractivitywhichhastakenplaceinChinesehighereducation.©2008ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.JELclassification:I21I23C14Keywords:DataenvelopmentanalysisEfficiencymeasurementChinesehighereducation1.IntroductionDataenvelopmentanalysis(DEA)hasbecomeapopulartoolformeasuringtheefficiencyofnon-profitinstitutionssuchashospitals,schoolsanduniversities.Itspopularityinthesecontextsderivesfromthefactthatitisbasedonadistancefunctionapproachandhencecanhandlemultipleoutputsandmultipleinputs;itdoesnotassumeanyspecificbehaviouralassumptionsofthefirm(e.g.costminimizationorprofitmaximization);itmakesnoassumptionregardingthedistributionofefficiencies;anditrequiresnoaprioriinformationregardingthepricesofeithertheinputsortheoutputs.DespitetherebeingaplethoraofstudieswhichexaminetheefficiencyofthehighereducationsectorsofvariouscountriessuchastheUK,theUSA,Canada,Finland,IsraelandAustralia(Abbott&Doucouliagos,2003;Ahn,Arnold,Charnes&Cooper,1989;Arecelus&Coleman,1997;Athanassopoulos&Shale,1997;Avkiran,2001;Breu&Raab,1994;Coelli,Rao&Battese,1998;ElMahgary&Lahdelma,1995;Flegg&Allen,2007;Friedman&Sinuany-Stern,1997;Haksever&Muragishi,1998;Johnes,2006a;Worthington&Lee,2008),littleworkhasbeendoneonmeasuringtheefficiencyinproducinganyoftheoutputsofhighereducationinstitutions(HEIs)inChina.RecentstudiesbyNgandLi(2000)andLiu(2001)areexceptionsbutarebasedondataforthe1990s.Amoreup-to-dateanalysisoftheChinesehighereducationsectoristhereforeoverdue.ItisgenerallyagreedthatthemainfunctionsofHEIsareteachingandresearch.ChineseHEIshavebeenexpandinginboththeseactivitiesinrecentyears.The15.5millionstudentsinenrolledinregularHEIsinChinain2005representedanincreaseof181%comparedto2000(ChinaStatisticalYearbook2006).FundingforeducationinregularHEIsinChinahasrisenby133%between2000and2004(ChinaStatisticalYearbook2002–2006).In2005,978,610postgraduateswereenrolledinChineseHEIs(ofwhichChinaEconomicReview19(2008)679–696⁎Correspondingauthor.E-mailaddress:[e-mail](J.JOHNES).1043-951X/$–seefrontmatter©2008ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.chieco.2008.08.004ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectChinaEconomicReviewalmost20%werestudyingforadoctorate)andthisrepresentedanincreaseof225%comparedto2000(ChinaStatisticalYearbook2006).Inaddition,patentsappliedforbyHEIsrosefrom1942in2000to14,643in2005(),anincreaseof654%.WithsuchrapidexpansioninallaspectsofactivityundertakenbyHEIs,andgiventheallocationofpublicresourcestohighereducation,itisessentialthattheresourcesareusedefficientlyandthatqualityismaintained.Indeed,‘…quantitativegrowthcangetnowhereintheabsenceofguaranteedquality’(Ji,2006p278).Thepurposeofthispaperisthereforetoexaminethetechnicalefficiencyintheproductionofresearchof109topChineseregular1universitiesbasedondatafor2003and2004,i.e.duringtheperiodofrapidexpansion.Thepaperisin6partsofwhichthisisthefirst.Section2providessomebackgroundontheChinesehighereducationsystemanditsdevelopmentoverthelast50years.ThemethodologyappliedtothedataisdescribedinSection3,whilethedataandthemodelsarepresentedinSection4.TheresultsoftheanalysisareinSection5,whileconclusionswhichcanbedrawnfromthestudyarepresentedinthefinalsection.2.Chinesehighereducation2SincethePeople'sRepublicofChina(PRC)wasfoundedin1949,China'shighereducationsectorhasexperiencedanumberofdistinctphases.Theprimarycharacteristicsofthesephases,andtheirimplicationsforthefunding,managementandadmissionscriteriaoftheHEIsaresummarisedinTable1.In1949,theChinesehighereducationsectorwasverysmallwithjust205institutions(ChinaEducationYearbook1949),themajorityofwhichwerepubliclyowned.Inaddition,thegeographicalspreadofinstitutionsatthattimewasheavilybiasedtowardsthecoastalareasofChina.TheSovietmodelofhighereducationwasadoptedinordertomeettheskillneedsoftheFirstFive-yearPlan.Thusthehighereducationsectorwasrestructuredinordertofulfiltheseeconomicandpoliticalobjectives.Allinstitutionswerescrutinisedandmanywerereorganisedintospecialistinstitutions.Carewastakentoensurethatanynewinstitutionswereevenlyspreadacrossthecountry.Thec