AN EXPERIMENT IN THE USE OF DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS FOR EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF UK UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENTS OF ACCOUNTING

One problem in evaluating the efficiency of public sector organisations is the lack of a single index of efficiency, such as profit, by which a significant element of aggregate performance of each organisation can be assessed. This article examines the potential of using data envelopment analysis to overcome such a problem in the context of an area of much current concern in the UK, namely that of assessing the efficiency of university departments. The methods involved are, however, equally applicable in other countries or in a wide range of public sector bodies. Data envelopment analysis was introduced to the accounting literature by its inventors, Charnes and Cooper (1980), but accountants generally seem to have overlooked its existence. This article aims to stimulate a greater interest in the technique and a widespread examination and evaluation of it in a variety of contexts.