Efficiency Assessment of Public Education & Health Sector in Selected Middle-Income Countries with Special Reference to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Abstract

This study investigates relative efficiency of public education and health sector in selected middle income countries with special reference to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The study uses data for two reference years; 2000 (implementation year of MDGs for developing countries) and 2015 (the final year of MDGs). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) are used to calculate relative efficiency, operating scale of the countries (DMUs) and productivity change in relative efficiency over time respectively. The paper conceptualizes relative efficiency of the countries in discretionary, multicriteria input-output variables context to investigate efficiency differences among the countries and deduce important takeaways. Educational expenditure, teachers at primary level, health expenditure, birth attended by skilled staff are used as input variables while enrollment at primary level, completion of primary level education, infant survival per annum and child survival per annum are used as output variables. The DEA results show that all countries could not operate at efficient level to target MDGs. The level of efficiency was not same under different DEA specifications in both the periods. Some countries were inefficient because of their size; either having too large size or too small size of operation. The sources of change in efficiency over the time were either because of real change in efficiency or change in technology frontier or both. The study identified a set of institutional and individuals factors which contribute to the efficiency and inefficiency of DMUs under investigation.