The Efficiency of Public Spending on Education in Colombia

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the efficiency with which resources from the Colombian central government are used for the provision of educational services. The purpose is to evaluate the efficiency of public spending at the subnational level, specifically relative efficiency in the use of resources from the General System of Participations (SGP). To this end, I use a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). We find that the average efficiency is 62,3% in the provision of education. As to quality, the efficiency reaches only 48,8%. I conclude that municipalities should try to improve the performance and efficiency with which they use resources from the SGP, especially to improve the efficiency in quality.