What lies behind efficiency? Management, municipal size, and inequalities in basic education in Paraná
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55560/arete.2026.24.12.3%20Keywords:
educational efficiency, DEA, basic education, Paraná municipalities, public managementAbstract
This study assesses the evolution of technical efficiency in the use of resources allocated to basic education in municipalities of Paraná, Brazil, between 2010 and 2022. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied using a variable returns to scale model with output orientation, considering financial resources, teachers and schools as inputs, and SAEB scores and enrollments as outputs. Municipalities were analyzed by population size, distinguishing those with up to 50,000 inhabitants from those above this threshold. The results indicate stability in average efficiency over the period, but relevant differences between groups. Larger municipalities showed higher scores and lower dispersion, whereas smaller ones presented greater internal heterogeneity, combining units close to the efficiency frontier with cases farther from it. The study concludes that educational efficiency should be interpreted in context, considering scale, institutional capacity and local management conditions. It should be noted that the study compares two time points (2010 and 2022) rather than a continuous longitudinal trend; management, institutional capacity, socioeconomic conditions and inequality are discussed as an interpretive framework for the results, rather than as determinants formally tested within the DEA model, which is proposed as an agenda for future research.
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