What is it about?
This article provides an analysis of the academic performance of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Vietnam with 50 universities and 50 colleges in 2011/12. The two-stage semiparametric data envelopment analysis is used to estimate the efficiency of HEIs and investigate the effects of various factors on their performance. The findings reveal that HEIs in the surveyed sample show that there are still potential avenues to improve their existing performance. There appears to be a difference in the efficiencies of public and private HEIs in the reported year. It is noted that the inefficiency of HEIs are not entirely a result of managerial performance, but also influenced by other factors such as location, age and the contribution of tuition fees. Our results are expected to provide more understanding of the operational efficiency of HEIs for educational managers and policymakers to find possible solutions to improve the performance of Vietnamese higher education
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Why is it important?
The objectives of this study are two-fold. First, we respond to the research question of whether HEIs are operating efficiently by providing empirical evidence on their efficiency scores using data development analysis (DEA). Second, the determinants that are expected to influence the performance of HEIs are examined using the semiparametric model to confirm the hypotheses of interest. The findings are expected to provide insightful information for policymakers to allow them to better understand the performance of HEIs and seek more appropriate solutions for moving the sector forward
Perspectives
Our article is the first attempt to provide a preliminary analysis of the performance of HEIs in Vietnam in a particular year. Although we note some interesting findings above, some limitations need to be addressed. First, our sample is small, involving cross-sectional data; a larger sample size and a longer span of data are desirable to gain a clearer picture about the possible variations in HEI efficiency over time. Second, other necessary outputs and inputs should be included in future studies. For example, in our study, research output is estimated by research income from research activities whereas publications of academic staff are not included. Finally, a combination of DEA and stochastic frontier analysis would be useful to isolate the effects of random noise from managerial performance and environmental impacts. Hence, the results from measuring efficiency would be more robust
Dr Carolyn-Dung Thi Thanh Tran
University of New England
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An empirical analysis of the performance of Vietnamese higher education institutions, Journal of Further and Higher Education, March 2016, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/0309877x.2015.1135886.
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