Allocation Efficiency of Higher Education Resources in China:A Three-Stage DEA Model-Based Calculation

Qi’an Zhong

doi:10.6981/FEM.202508_6(8).0006

Authors

Qi’an Zhong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202508_6(8).0006

Keywords:

Higher Education Resource Allocation; Three-Stage DEA; External Factors; Regional Allocation Efficiency.

Abstract

Higher education is the foundation of national economic development, and its resource allocation efficiency has become a key factor affecting high-quality economic development. This study selects 31 provinces in China as the research object. The number of researchers, the number of computers and the expenditure of research funds are taken as input indicators, and the three types of output indicators of higher education are selected according to the logical framework of “talent cultivation-scientific and technological achievements-social services”, and the environmental variables are screened from the aspects of economic development, governmental support, and social development, and degree of openness to the outside world, and the input efficiency of higher education in China was analyzed from 2019 to 2023 with the help of the three-stage DEA model. The results of the study show that China's higher education input efficiency is generally high at the initial stage, revealing that the higher education system has achieved some success in terms of resource allocation as well as management and technology. Further stochastic frontier analysis shows that the macroeconomic environment is positively related to the improvement of higher education input efficiency, while social development and opening up are negatively related to the improvement of higher education input efficiency. After removing the influence of environmental factors and stochastic disturbances, the average value of comprehensive efficiency decreases, and shows the regional difference characteristic of “the center leads, the east, the northeast follows, and the west lags behind”.

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