Italian Public Universities Research Articles

Comparing Efficiency of Public Universities among European Countries: Different Incentives Lead to Different Performances

AbstractThis paper analyses the relationship between the public funding systems of higher education in Italy and the Netherlands and their universities' performances. Empirically, an efficiency analysis on 13 Dutch and 58 Italian public universities is conducted. The findings show that the relative efficiency of Italian and Dutch universities is strongly influenced by the policy perspective adopted. If the goal is to realise the European goals and minimise resources employed for obtaining a high number of graduates, Dutch universities turn out to be more efficient. However, Italian universities are much more efficient if the priority is to minimise the costs for a given level of activity, such as number of students.

Comparing Efficiency of Public Universities Among European Countries: Different Incentives Lead to Different Performances

In this paper we study the feasibility of the European EU2020 goal of increasing the number of higher education graduates, considering large differences in incentives and funding schemes between countries in Europe. We conduct an efficiency analysis on 13 Dutch and 58 Italian public universities. Our findings show that the relative efficiency of Italian and Dutch universities is strongly influenced by the policy perspective adopted. If the goal is to realize the European goals and minimize resources employed for obtaining a high number of graduates, Dutch universities turn out to be more efficient. However, Italian universities are much more efficient if the priority is to minimize the costs for a given level of activity, such as number of students. The main policy consequence of our findings is that it will be hard to realize European goals if not all countries have incentive scheme that are in line with these goals.

University spin-offs and their impact: longitudinal evidence from Italy

The creation of university spin-off companies (USOs) is one of the most visible form of commercialization of university research. To date, there is scant and mixed evidence about USOs and their performance, thus producing a debate about their impact on the economy and society and about the legitimization of policies to support their development. In this paper, we address this gap by providing evidence about the growth strategies and performances of USOs in the Italian context. We analyze the population of nine hundred thirty-five USOs spin-off from Italian public universities since 2000, highlighting potential avenues for future research on this important topic.

Le università statali italiane verso la contabilità economico-patrimoniale ed il controllo di gestione

The paper analyses the accounting, financial reporting and management control systems of the Italian public universities, in the light of the new legislation (Law 240/2010 and Decree 18/2012). This reform includes two important changes: the adoption of accrual accounting and the introduction of a management control system, both mandatory from 1st January 2014. The paper provides a detailed description of the current situation of Italian public universities, which allows to understand the reality in which the reform will be implemented and to evaluate whether universities have done appropriate efforts to realise this important accounting and managerial changes. For this purpose, an empirical analysis has been conducted, based on the results of a semi-structured questionnaire that was applied to the 67 Italian public universities during the first half of 2013. Survey results indicate that currently not many universities have budgeting and accounting reporting systems aligned with the new legislation. However, most of them have executed different types of efforts for the transition process and for the fulfillment of the 1st January 2014 deadline.

Benchmarking Website Performance in the Public Sector: A Non Parametric Approach

In this paper the outcome of a benchmarking study that compares organization websites in the public sector is presented. In particular, 31 websites of Italian public universities are compared considering the website cognitive efficiency as a measure of its overall performance, i.e. usability and accessibility. Data Envelopment Analysis is performed to generate a measurement for the cognitive efficiency, while cross-efficiency is used to alleviate the weak discriminating capability of the basic DEA model, and have a ranking of sample websites. Seven university websites are 100% cognitive efficient and average efficiency is at 61.63%. Results also show that website cognitive efficiency is positively influenced by the user perceived attractiveness and negatively by the time over-consumption during navigation.

The financial distress of public sector entities. Evidence from Italian public universities

The paper investigates the financial condition of Italian universities, focusing on cash- and budget-level solvency as well as service-level solvency. Our model includes structural factors (which refer to both size and quality in structures), organisational factors (which refer to the performance evaluation of the strategic mission of universities, such as research and teaching activities as well as the so-called third mission) and hybrid factors (which essentially refer to the financial relationship between the central government and each university). Basing the analysis on these factors, we propose a model for evaluating the financial viability of Italian universities, characterised by high flexibility and feasibility. We found that neither structural nor organisational factors seem to affect financial distress, with only the hybrid factors being significant. These results are probably due to the troubled financial difficulties that are affecting several countries in current years; this means that central government is forced to pay attention only to the financial factors. Furthermore, our findings suggest that performance-funding policies can be ineffective if there is not a clear understanding of the mechanisms through which accountability operates.

University Spin-Offs and Their Impact: Longitudinal Evidence from Italy

The creation of University Spin-Off companies (USOs) is one of the most visible form of commercialization of university research. To date, there is scant and mixed evidence about USOs and their performance, thus producing a debate about their impact on the economy and society and about the legitimization of policies to support their development. In this paper, we address this gap by providing evidence about the growth strategies and performances of USOs in the Italian context. We analyze the population of 935 USOs spun-off from Italian public universities since 2000, highlighting potential avenues for future research on this important topic.

Dealing with knowledge in the Italian public universities

PurposeThis article sets out to investigate the relationship between performance management systems (PMSs) and knowledge in public universities. In particular, this paper intends to verify how different choices related to PMS affect the nature of knowledge, in terms of the well‐known tacit vs explicit dichotomy.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical focus is on the recent PMS changes that have been developing in the “modernisation agenda” of the Italian public sector. In particular, 15 case studies of PMS design in Italian universities are presented. The interpretation of the results is based on the Simon's theoretical framework related to the four levers of control.FindingsResults show how PMSs (in the different forms presented in the universities’ evaluation plans) could represent an important social tool to facilitate the management of organizational knowledge, combining explicit and tacit forms of knowledge.Originality/valueThis paper tackles a topic neglected in the knowledge management literature, aiming to open up a discussion on the possible interconnections between PMSs and knowledge in the public arena.

University Governance at the Crossroads: The Italian Case

The financial crisis and the growth of global public debt require more attention than in the past inmanaging resources. Currently most of public organizations have financial and economic difficulties inresponse to the reduced government funding. Hence Italian universities are changing their governanceforms which require new competences and good practices in management.The aim of the paper is to propose the model of governance that is emerging in Italy after the introductionof the law 240/2010, with particular reference to Public Universities’ choices about numerousness andcomposition of their boards of directors.After the description of the Italian case, a brief review of prior literature on University Governance andsome citation to New Public Management are provided to introduce the relevant concepts (theoreticaldevelopment).In addition, the survey provides a conceptual framework on governance models in order to discuss theaim of the paper in a broader context. Methodology and results are outlined later. The sample analyzed iscomposed of 56 Italian Public Universities that have modified their organizational structure through theirstatutes. Finally the paper’s conclusions are presented together with suggestions for further research.

Comparing German and Italian Public Universities: Convergence or Divergence in the Higher Education Landscape?

In this paper, we examine and compare the efficiency of Italian and German public universities and its evolution in the period 2001–2007. This topic is particularly important because of two main reasons: (i) as the universities are funded through public money in both countries, it is necessary to assess whether it has been used efficiently; (ii) the comparison among (similar) European countries can stimulate a benchmarking exercise that can be useful for managerial and policy making purposes. The results show that German universities are more efficient than their Italian counterparts are, using data envelopment analysis. However, the latter are catching up: in the period 2001–2007, their efficiency has improved more rapidly. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparing German and Italian Universities: Convergence or Divergence in the Higher Education Landscape?

In this paper we examine and compare the efficiency of Italian and German public universities and its evolution in the period 2001-2007. This topic is particularly important because of two main reasons: (i) as the universities are funded through public money in both countries, it is necessary to assess whether it has been used efficiently – especially in a period of pressures on public budgets; (ii) the comparison among (similar) European countries can stimulate a benchmarking exercise that can be useful for managerial and policy making purposes. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA) we first derive efficiency scores for higher education institutions in both countries. In a second step, we apply a Tobit regression in order to detect external factors associated with the efficiency of universities. Overall, the results show that German universities are more efficient than their Italian counterparts. However the latter are catching-up: in the period 2001-2007 their efficiency improved more rapidly. Among the external factors, three are statistically related to efficiency: the presence of a medical faculty, the regional unemployment rate, and the regional share of workers employed in science and technology.

Differential Grading Standards and University Funding: Evidence from Italy

This article documents that grades vary significantly across Italian public universities and degrees. We provide evidence suggesting that these differences reflect the heterogeneity of grading standards. A straightforward implication of this result is that university funding schemes based on students' academic performance do not necessary favour universities that generate higher value added. We test this for the case of the Italian funds allocation system, which rewards universities according to the number of exams passed by their students. We find that university departments that rank higher according to this indicator actually tend to be significantly worse in terms of their graduates' performance in the labour market. (JEL codes: I2, J31, J64)

Assessing the Cost Efficiency of Italian Universities

This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis to evaluate the cost efficiency of 52 Italian public universities. In addition to being one of the first such cost studies of the Italian system, it explicitly takes into account the internal cost structure of institutions’ education programs; a task not prevalent in past Data Envelopment Analysis studies on higher education institutions. The findings highlight biases in efficiency measurement arising from not separating the sample into those institutions with medical faculties and those without. Efficiency scores are also shown to vary considerably when education quality measures are input‐based or output‐based. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that limiting the enrollment growth of some institutions while expanding enrollments in others could reduce system‐wide costs and improve overall efficiency.

Cost Structure of Italian Public Universities: An Empirical Analysis

There are broad concerns in Italy about public sector efficiency. Within the public sector higher education (HE) has a major role, providing the economy with research outputs and graduates. Italian universities claim to have expanded teaching and research services to keep pace with the growth of the “knowledge society.” An important question is whether this expansion is benefiting the Italian HE sector. To address this issue, the cost structure of Italian university system is examined. A quadratic cost function is employed to test both the existence of efficiency linkages between teaching and research services and the presence of scale economies. These results are used to investigate the implications of a more specialized HE sector.

Data envelopment analysis to the Italian university system: theoretical issues and policy implications

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining technical efficiency of the Italian universities, focusing on policy and benchmarking implications. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the individual university's efficiency is computed. We run several elaborations matching teaching and research variables representing the education production process. Computational results are given for 58 Italian public universities. We find a core of universities that perform well for various input and output specifications. We choose to focus on a single elaboration, selected on statistical grounds, to derive some policy implications.