School competition and efficiency in elementary schools in Mexico

Rocio Garcia-Diaz, Ernesto del Castillo and Rene Cabral ()

International Journal of Educational Development, 2016, vol. 46, issue C, 23-34

Abstract: This paper examines how competition impacts the technical efficiency of schools. We model competition between schools using Geographical Information System (GIS) tools in order to develop a Herfindahl–Hirschman market concentration index (HHI) and then follow a stochastic frontier analysis with alternative specifications that enable us to obtain the best unbiased efficient estimators. We find three important results. First, a higher degree of competition from public and private schools significantly increases elementary school efficiency in Mexico, as measured by the outcomes in a nationwide standardized test. Second, we find a positive, though small, association between expenditure on education and school outputs. Third, private schools perform significantly better due to the differential incentives they face in terms of competition.

Keywords: Competition; Stochastic production frontier; Efficiency; Spatial analysis; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D24 I21 I22 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:injoed:v:46:y:2016:i:c:p:23-34

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.09.015

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