Resource allocation models and accountability: a Jamaican case study

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEIs) may be funded privately, by the state or by a mixture of the two. Nevertheless, any state financing of HE necessitates a mechanism to determine the level of support and the channels through which it is to be directed; that is, a resource allocation model. Public funding, through resource allocation models, influences HEIs' behaviour according to how funding reaches them. Nonetheless, under any allocation system, funders and HEIs must be accountable for their actions and their spending, meaning that resource allocation and accountability are intertwined. Without accountability, institutions may engage in too much research and scholarship, fail to respond to student needs and become inefficient. However, as HEIs must be able to manage their own affairs, accountability must not become a straightjacket. Furthermore, both accountability and resource allocation models need to support HEI governance and management. The nature of the financing relationship with HEIs causes problems for decision making and policy as society wrestles with issues of funding and control. This paper examines two perspectives on resource allocation models and assesses funding alternatives. It develops a resource allocation ‘pendulum’ and investigates the link between accountability and resource allocation, which are employed to assess the case of Jamaican higher education.