Efficiency in the provision of public services: a DEA of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Authors

  • C. Simón de Blas CINDOC - CSIC
  • A. Arias Coello Facultad de Ciencias de la Documentación, UCM
  • J. Simón Martín Instituto Universitario de Evaluación Sanitaria, UCM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2007.v30.i1.366

Keywords:

data envelopment analysis, university libraries efficiency, libraries evaluation

Abstract


This work presents the use of the DEA technique in order to measurethe efficiency of the 26 libraries of the Complutense University,Madrid. To evaluate the efficiency, the following variable inputs correspondingto 2004 have been selected: library staff, number of practicioners,library holdings and number of titles of open serials as an indicator of theresources of each library uses. As variable outputs of library services wehave selected: number of loans, number of interlibrary loans served andborrowed. Fifteen of the 26 libraries analysed, have been evaluated as efficient.The result of the evaluation proves that the inefficiency of somelibraries is basically due to an excess of library resources in relation withthe services they provide

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Achabal, D.; Heineke, J.; Mcintyre, S. Issues and perspectives on retail productivity. Journal of Retailing, 1984, 60 (3), 107-127.

ARL. Association of Research Libraries. Developing Indicators for Academic Library Performance: Ratios from the ARL Statistics. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries. Annual.

Boussofiane, A.; Dyson, R. G.; Thanassoulis, E. Applied data envelopment analysis. European Journal of Operations Research, 1991, 52 (1), 1-15. doi:10.1016/0377-2217(91)90331-O

Charnes, A.; Cooper, W.W.; Rhodes, E. Measuring the efficiency of decision making units. European Journal of Operations Research, 1978, 2 (6), 429-444. doi:10.1016/0377-2217(78)90138-8

Chase, R. B.; Aquiliano, N. J. Production and Operation Management: A life Cycle Approach. Homewood, Il.: Richard D. Irwing, 1992.

Chen, T. A measurement of the resource utilization efficiency of university libraries. International Journal of Production Economics, 1997, 53 (1), 71-80. doi:10.1016/S0925-5273(97)00102-3

Coelli, T. J. A Guide to DEAP Version 2.1: A Data Envelopment Analysis (Computer) Program, CEPA Working Paper 96/8, Department of Econometrics, University of New England, Armidale NSW Australia. 1996

Easun, S. Beginner’s. Guide to efficiency measurement: an application of data envelopment analysis to selected school libraries in California. School Library Media Quarterly, 1994, 22 (2), 103-106.

Farrell M. J. The measurement of productive efficiency. Journal of the Royal Satistical Society. Series A (General), 1957, 120 (3), 253-281. doi:10.2307/2343100

Hammond, C. J. Efficiency in the provision of public services: a data envelopment analysis of UK library systems. Applied Economics, 2002, 34 (5), 649-657. doi:10.1080/00036840110053252

ISO 11620. Information and Documentation: Library Performance Indicators. Geneva: International Organization for Standarization 1998.

Klasseny, K. J.; Rusell, R. M.; Chrisman, J. J. Efficiency and productivity measures for high contact services. The Service Industries Journal, 1998, 18 (4), 1-18. doi:10.1080/02642069800000038

Miller, D. M. Profitability = productivity + price recovery. Harvard Business Review, 1984, May-June, 145-153.

Reichmann, G. Measuring university library efficiency using data envelopment analysis. Libri, 2004, 54 (2), 136-146. doi:10.1515/LIBR.2004.136

Reichmann, G.; Sommersguter-Reichmann, M. University library benchmarking: An international comparison using DEA. International Journal of Production Economics, 2006, 100 (1), 131-147. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2004.10.007

Roswitha, P.; Boekhorst, T. Measuring Quality. International Guidelines for Performance Measurement in Academic Libraries. IFLA Publication, vol. 76, New Providence, NJ: Bowker-Saur, 1996.

Shim, W. Applying DEA technique to library evaluation in academic research libraries. Library Trends, 2003, 51 (3), 312-332.

Siegel, I. H. Improving Productivity: Measurement for Improvement. Kalamazoo. Michigan: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1980.

Sharma, K. R.; Leung, P.; Zaleski, H. M. Performance Measurement of Hawaii State Public Libraries: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, 1999, 28 (2), 190-198.

Vitaliano, D. F. Assessing public library efficiency using data envelopment analysis. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 1998, 69 (1), 107-122. doi:10.1111/1467-8292.00075

Worthington, A. Performance indicators and efficiency measurement in public libraries. The Australian Economic Review, 1999, 32 (1), 31-42. doi:10.1111/1467-8462.00091

Downloads

Published

2007-03-30

How to Cite

Simón de Blas, C., Arias Coello, A., & Simón Martín, J. (2007). Efficiency in the provision of public services: a DEA of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Revista Española De Documentación Científica, 30(1), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2007.v30.i1.366

Issue

Section

Studies