Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise
This paper gauges public spending efficiency on human and physical capital formation using non-parametric methods. Input-inefficiency and output-inefficiency are scored across 195 countries using 2010-2020 data. The consistent methodology allows within-country comparison of efficiency across sectors...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Applied Economics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2025.2480985 |
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| author | Santiago Herrera Hironobu Isaka Abdoulaye Ouedraogo |
| author_facet | Santiago Herrera Hironobu Isaka Abdoulaye Ouedraogo |
| author_sort | Santiago Herrera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper gauges public spending efficiency on human and physical capital formation using non-parametric methods. Input-inefficiency and output-inefficiency are scored across 195 countries using 2010-2020 data. The consistent methodology allows within-country comparison of efficiency across sectors. Developing countries show lower efficiency in infrastructure spending, moderate efficiency in education, and higher efficiency in health spending. Comparisons with previous studies indicate significant efficiency gains over time in human capital spending. The efficiency gap between human and physical capital spending suggests better project selection and management in infrastructure are central to the development agenda. The paper verifies empirical regularities in cross-country efficiency variations, finding negative associations between efficiency and spending levels and positive associations with governance quality indicators. This analysis helps explain why some countries might need more resources than others to achieve similar development outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-882e994cae984cda82b808d453f49fdb |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1514-0326 1667-6726 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Applied Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-882e994cae984cda82b808d453f49fdb2025-08-20T02:48:54ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Applied Economics1514-03261667-67262025-12-0128110.1080/15140326.2025.2480985Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exerciseSantiago Herrera0Hironobu Isaka1Abdoulaye Ouedraogo2Macro- Trade-Investment, World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USAMacro- Trade-Investment, World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USAMacro- Trade-Investment, World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USAThis paper gauges public spending efficiency on human and physical capital formation using non-parametric methods. Input-inefficiency and output-inefficiency are scored across 195 countries using 2010-2020 data. The consistent methodology allows within-country comparison of efficiency across sectors. Developing countries show lower efficiency in infrastructure spending, moderate efficiency in education, and higher efficiency in health spending. Comparisons with previous studies indicate significant efficiency gains over time in human capital spending. The efficiency gap between human and physical capital spending suggests better project selection and management in infrastructure are central to the development agenda. The paper verifies empirical regularities in cross-country efficiency variations, finding negative associations between efficiency and spending levels and positive associations with governance quality indicators. This analysis helps explain why some countries might need more resources than others to achieve similar development outcomes.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2025.2480985Efficiency frontiersnonparametric methodsefficiency of public spending |
| spellingShingle | Santiago Herrera Hironobu Isaka Abdoulaye Ouedraogo Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise Journal of Applied Economics Efficiency frontiers nonparametric methods efficiency of public spending |
| title | Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise |
| title_full | Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise |
| title_fullStr | Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise |
| title_full_unstemmed | Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise |
| title_short | Efficiency of public spending in education, health, and infrastructure: an international benchmarking exercise |
| title_sort | efficiency of public spending in education health and infrastructure an international benchmarking exercise |
| topic | Efficiency frontiers nonparametric methods efficiency of public spending |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2025.2480985 |
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