2009-01: Economies of Scale and Scope in Australian Higher Education, 1998-2006 (Working paper)
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Higgs, Helen
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Wakeley, Tim
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32 pages
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Abstract
This paper estimates economies of scale and scope for thirty-six Australian universities using a multiple-input, multiple-output cost function over the period 1998 to 2006. The three inputs included in the analysis are full-time equivalent academic and non-academic staff and physical capital. The five outputs are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD completions, national competitive and industry grants, and publications. The findings indicate that ray economies of scale hold up to about 120 percent of current mean output though product-specific economies of scale hold only for undergraduate teaching. Global economies of scope prevail in the sector, increasing with the level of mean output, while product-specific economies of scope arise for all outputs except publications. A cost efficiency index constructed using the sector benchmark indicates that the universities of Ballarat, Southern Cross and Flinders have a high level of cost efficiency, while New South Wales, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and James Cook are cost inefficient.
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Copyright © 2010 by author(s). No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form, or stored in a retrieval system, without prior permission of the author(s).
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Economics and Business Statistics
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Subject
C33 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Models with Panel Data; Longitudinal Data; Spatial Time Series
I23 - Higher Education and Research Institutions
L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
Economies of scale
Economies of scope
Substitutes and complements in production
Cost efficiency