Estimating South African Higher Education Productivity and Its Determinants Using Färe-Primont Index: Are...

Area of Science:

• Economics
• Higher Education Studies
• Econometrics

Background:

• South African higher education faces challenges including high dropout rates, funding cuts, and economic uncertainty.
• There is a lack of empirical research on productivity growth within the sector.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure total factor productivity (TFP) and its components in South African public universities.
• To identify determinants of productivity and efficiency growth in the higher education sector.

Main Methods:

• Application of the Färe-Primont index approach to panel data from 22 public universities over 8 years.
• Utilisation of a feasible generalised least squares model to assess determinants of productivity and efficiency.

Main Results:

• Average TFP was 0.631, with historically advantaged universities (0.894) outperforming disadvantaged ones (0.823).
• TFP increased by 3.43% annually, driven by scale, mix, and technical efficiency, despite a decline in technological change (-1.80%).
• Comprehensive universities showed the highest TFP growth (6.13%), followed by traditional (4.85%) and technology universities (1.41%).

Conclusions:

• TFP growth is positively linked to graduation rates, academic quality, and student-academic ratios.
• Policy recommendations include investing in R&D, adopting innovations, upskilling staff, and aligning admissions with staffing.