An Examination of Alternative Approaches to Measuring Congestion in British Universities

Tony Flegg (tony.flegg@uwe.ac.uk) and David Allen
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Tony Flegg: School of Economics, University of the West of England
David Allen: School of Economics, University of the West of England

No 606, Working Papers from Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol

Abstract: This paper examines three alternative methods of measuring congestion, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. These methods are the conventional approach of Färe and Grosskopf, the alternative proposed by Cooper et al., and a new method developed by Tone and Sahoo. Each method is found to have merits and demerits. The properties of the different methods are examined using data for 45 British universities in the period 1980/81 to 1992/93. Despite conceptual differences, Tone and Sahoo’s approach and that of Cooper et al. are found to produce fairly similar results. Contrary to expectations, Färe and Grosskopf’s approach generally indicates more congestion than the other two procedures. The main reason for this is identified as being its use of CRS rather than VRS as the assumed technology. Although the three alternative measures of congestion are found to be positively correlated, the correlations are not strong enough for them to be regarded as substitutes. Also contrary to expectations, the results suggest that academic overstaffing, rather than excessive numbers of undergraduates, was the largest single cause of congestion in British universities during the period under review. Even so, only a modest amount of congestion is identified.

Keywords: British universities; congestion; DEA; Methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2006-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-sog
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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