Efficiency of Public and Private Service Delivery: The Case of Secondary Education

Abstract

A current issue is the evaluation of the efficiency of various types of education service providers. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of the services of secondary education provided by a variety of types of providers. The evaluation of secondary education is performed on a sample of 26 grammar schools in the Prešov region of the Slovak Republic. The method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used. The results of the efficiency of 26 grammar schools in the period 2012-2013 to 2016-2017 showed that grammar schools from the sample established by all providers (public, private, church entity) reached the full efficiency score. By contrast, six grammar schools were evaluated as the least efficient. The evaluation of the set of grammar schools based on the average efficiency score also showed that, from the viewpoint of the types of providers, public grammar schools reach higher efficiency scores, in comparison with church and private grammar schools. These findings expand on the theory of public goods with respect to their production and render valuable information for not only education providers but also creators of regional strategic plans in education policies.