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Validating DEA as a ranking tool: An application of DEA to assess performance in higher education

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Abstract

There is a general interest in ranking schemes applied to complex entities described by multiple attributes. Published rankings for universities are in great demand but are also highly controversial. We compare two classification and ranking schemes involving universities; one from a published report, ‘Top American Research Universities’ by the University of Florida's TheCenter and the other using DEA. Both approaches use the same data and model. We compare the two methods and discover important equivalences. We conclude that the critical aspect in classification and ranking is the model. This suggests that DEA is a suitable tool for these types of studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, U.S.A

    Marie-Laure Bougnol

  2. School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1015 Floyd Avenue, Box 84400, Richmond, VA, 23284-4000, U.S.A

    José H. Dulá

Authors
  1. Marie-Laure Bougnol
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  2. José H. Dulá
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Correspondence to Marie-Laure Bougnol.

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Bougnol, ML., Dulá, J.H. Validating DEA as a ranking tool: An application of DEA to assess performance in higher education. Ann Oper Res 145, 339–365 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-006-0039-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-006-0039-2

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