Measuring the research performance of Chinese higher education institutions: An application of data envelopment analysis

Utilizing data from 84 key Chinese higher education institutions, the present study attempts to examine the effectiveness of the Education Reform implemented in the mid-1980s in China. With focus on the research performance of the institutions, individual institution efficiency is computed by the method of data envelopment analysis. Regional differences in the efficiency of institutions are also addressed. It is found that research performance of institutions across regions has improved, although the institutions as a whole have remained inefficient from 1993 to 1995. Institutions located in the East region turn out to have out-performed those in the Central and the West regions. In addition, the decomposition of the group efficiency measure indicates that, for the 3 years under study, the 84 key institutions suffered from technical, allocative and reallocative inefficiency.