Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Input Output in Education


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1 Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
     

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One type of analogy that has been brought into economics of education is the production function analogy. The production function claims that there exists a technical relationship between different combinations of input and output thus produced. There is some merit in viewing an institution of higher education in the context of traditional theory of the firm, whereby the university is hypothesized to maximize net social product to a set of production relations. This paper seeks to ask whether it is safe to use this economic analogy in the context of higher education, drawing parallels between universities and firms, students and customers, and so on. The discussion here seeks to identify the key economic features of higher education that make it different from for-profit industries. The task here is to make economic sense of an unusual industry. The first section explains and outlines the concept of input output used in case of firms as well as in educational institutions. The second section talks about the identification of outputs and a discussion at length of the three different outputs and the problems encountered in their valuation. It further discusses about the identification and valuation of inputs thereby leading to a deliberation on education production function which is viewed as a function of input and output. The next section brings forth the difference in productivity and efficiency in education. Hence, the arguments based from the literature are thus put forward.

Keywords

Input, Output, Production Function, Higher Education, Efficiency.
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  • Input Output in Education

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Authors

Sneha Bhasin
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Abstract


One type of analogy that has been brought into economics of education is the production function analogy. The production function claims that there exists a technical relationship between different combinations of input and output thus produced. There is some merit in viewing an institution of higher education in the context of traditional theory of the firm, whereby the university is hypothesized to maximize net social product to a set of production relations. This paper seeks to ask whether it is safe to use this economic analogy in the context of higher education, drawing parallels between universities and firms, students and customers, and so on. The discussion here seeks to identify the key economic features of higher education that make it different from for-profit industries. The task here is to make economic sense of an unusual industry. The first section explains and outlines the concept of input output used in case of firms as well as in educational institutions. The second section talks about the identification of outputs and a discussion at length of the three different outputs and the problems encountered in their valuation. It further discusses about the identification and valuation of inputs thereby leading to a deliberation on education production function which is viewed as a function of input and output. The next section brings forth the difference in productivity and efficiency in education. Hence, the arguments based from the literature are thus put forward.

Keywords


Input, Output, Production Function, Higher Education, Efficiency.

References