Towards an Analysis of Efficiency in Research, The Case of Colombian Universities

https://doi.org/10.25100/iyc.v21i2.8048
Growth Common Patterns Knowledge Management Research Efficiency Scaling Coefficient
Torre empacada: Fotocatalisis

Article Sidebar

pdf xml

Published: Jul 31, 2019
Issue: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2019): Engineering and competitiveness
Section Artículos de investigacion

Publcation metrics

435 | 52 | 4




 


Main Article Content

Authors

  Victor Bucheli Universidad del Valle, Escuela de Ingeniería en Sistemas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Cali, Colombia.
Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the empirical evidence of common growth patterns in total publications by year and the scaling exponents (β) associated with this growth behavior. Furthermore, research activities seem to show increasing returns to scale, and the research networks related to these knowledge generation activities appear to show economies of scale. This paper discusses whether the behavior of efficiency Colombian university institutions resemble the behavior of living organisms. Thus, the efficiency name as total publications by sizes institution, is associated to the scaling coefficients. In addition, this work provides the building blocks for a quantitative model, in which, the observed scalability emerge from the capacity to attract Ph.D. students or create new links to carried out research activities in networks.

How to Cite
1.
Bucheli V. Towards an Analysis of Efficiency in Research, The Case of Colombian Universities. inycomp [Internet]. 2019 Jul. 31 [cited 2024 Dec. 26];21(2):1-10. Available from: https://revistaingenieria.univalle.edu.co/index.php/ingenieria_y_competitividad/article/view/8048
References

(1) Bucheli V, Díaz A, Calderón JP, Lemoine P, Valdivia JA, Villaveces JL, et al. Growth of scientific production in Colombian universities: An intellectual capital-based approach. Scientometrics [Internet]. 2012;91(2):369–82. Doi: 10.1007/s11192-012-0627-7. Available from: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11192-012-0627-7.pdf.

(2) Price DJ de S. Little science, big science... and beyond [Internet]. Columbia University Press, editor. New York Guildford, Surrey; 1986. 336 p. Available from: http://derekdesollaprice.org/little-science-big-science-full-text/.

(3) Price DJ de S. A general theory of bibliometric and other cumulative advantage processes. J Assoc Inf Sci Technol [Internet]. 1976;27(5):292–306. Doi: 10.1002/asi.4630270505. Available from: https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/asi.4630270505.

(4) Coile RC. Lotka’s frequency distribution of scientific productivity. J Am Soc Inf Sci [Internet]. 1977;28(6):366–70. Doi: 10.1002/asi.4630280610. Available from: https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.4630280610https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.4630280610.

(5) Kawamura M, Thomas D, Tsurumoto A, Sasahara H, Kawaguchi Y. Lotka’s law and productivity index of authors in a scientific journal. J Oral Sci [Internet]. 2000;42(2):75–8. Doi: 10.2334/josnusd.42.75. Available from: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/josnusd1998/42/2/42_2_75/_article/-char/en.

(6) Heitor M, Horta H, Mendonça J. Developing human capital and research capacity: Science policies promoting brain gain. Technol Forecast Soc Change [Internet]. 2014;82(1):6–22. Doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2013.07.008. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162513001601.

(7) Brooks H. The relationship between science and technology. Res Policy [Internet]. 1994;23(5):477–86. Doi: 10.1016/0048-7333(94)01001-3. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0048733394010013.

(8) Romer P. Endogenous Technological Change. J Polit Econ [Internet]. 1990;98(5 Part 2):71–102. Disponible en: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/261725.

(9) Ganguli I. Saving Soviet Science: The Impact of Grants When Government R&D Funding Disappears. Am Econ J Appl Econ [Internet]. 2017;9(2):165–201. Doi: 10.1257/app.20160180. Available from: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20160180.

(10) Korhonen P, Tainio R, Wallenius J. Value efficiency analysis of academic research. Eur J Oper Res [Internet]. 2001;130(1):121–32. Doi: 10.1016/S0377-2217(00)00050-3. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221700000503.

(11) Cherchye L, Vanden-Abeele P. On research efficiency: A micro-analysis of Dutch university research in Economics and Business Management. Res Policy [Internet]. 2005;34(4):495–516. Doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2005.03.005. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733305000570.

(12) Moed H, Burger W, Frankfort J, Van-Raan A. The use of bibliometric data for the measurement of university research performance. Res Policy [Internet]. 1985;14(3):131–49. Doi: 10.1016/0048-7333(85)90012-5. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0048733385900125.

(13) Wallmark JT, Sedig KG. Quality of Research Measured By Citation Method and By Peer Review - a Comparison. IEEE Trans Eng Manag [Internet]. 1986;EM-33(4):218–22. Doi: 10.1109/TEM.1986.6447682. Available from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6447682.

(14) Sultan R, Al-Khatab A. Measurement of University Output: Model and Case Study. Assess Eval High Educ [Internet]. 1990;15(2):115–31. Doi: 10.1080/0260293900150203. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0260293900150203.

(15) Halme M, Korhonen P. Restricting weights in value efficiency analysis. Eur J Oper Res [Internet]. 2000;126(1):175–88. Doi: 10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00290-8. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221799002908.

(16) Bal H, Örkcü H, Çelebioğlu S. A note on a new method based on the dispersion of weights in data envelopment analysis. Comput Ind Eng [Internet]. 2009;56(4):1703–7. Doi: 10.1016/j.cie.2008.08.014. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360835207002033.

(17) Post T, Spronk J. Performance benchmarking using interactive data envelopment analysis. Eur J Oper Res [Internet]. 1999;115(3):472–87. Doi: 10.1016/S0377-2217(98)00022-8. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221798000228.

(18) Emrouznejad A, Parker BR, Tavares G. Evaluation of research in efficiency and productivity: A survey and analysis of the first 30 years of scholarly literature in DEA. Socioecon Plann Sci [Internet]. 2008;42(3):151–7. Doi: 10.1016/j.seps.2007.07.002. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012107000420.

(19) Johnes J. Measuring teaching efficiency in higher education: An application of data envelopment analysis to economics graduates from UK Universities 1993. Eur J Oper Res [Internet]. 2006;174(1):443–56. Doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2005.02.044. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221705002444.

(20) Wang EC, Huang W. Relative efficiency of R&D activities: A cross-country study accounting for environmental factors in the DEA approach. Res Policy [Internet]. 2007;36(2):260–73. Doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2006.11.004. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733306002149.

(21) Avkiran NK. Investigating technical and scale efficiencies of Australian Universities through data envelopment analysis. Socioecon Plann Sci [Internet]. 2001;35(1):57–80. Doi: 10.1016/S0038-0121(00)00010-0. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038012100000100.

(22) Worthington AC, Lee BL. Efficiency, technology and productivity change in Australian universities, 1998-2003. Econ Educ Rev [Internet]. 2008;27(3):285–98. Doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2006.09.012. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775707000453.

(23) Kuo JS, Ho YC. The cost efficiency impact of the university operation fund on public universities in Taiwan. Econ Educ Rev [Internet]. 2008;27(5):603–12. Doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.06.003. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775707000945.

(24) Johnes J. Data envelopment analysis and its application to the measurement of efficiency in higher education. Econ Educ Rev [Internet]. 2006;25(3):273–88. Doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2005.02.005. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775705000713.

(25) West G, Brown J, Enquist B. A general model for the structure and allometry of plant vascular systems. Nature [Internet]. 1999;400(6745):664–7. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/23251.

(26) Bettencourt L, Lobo J, West G. Why are large cities faster? Universal scaling and self-similarity in urban organization and dynamics. Eur Phys J B [Internet]. 2008;63(3):285–93. Doi: 10.1140/epjb/e2008-00250-6. Available from: https://epjb.epj.org/articles/epjb/abs/2008/11/b07911/b07911.html.

(27) Bettencourt L, West G. A unified theory of urban living. Nature [Internet]. 2010;467(7318):912–3. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/467912ª.

(28) Bettencourt L, Lobo L, Strumsky D, West G. Urban scaling and its deviations: Revealing the structure of wealth, innovation and crime across cities. PLoS One [Internet]. 2010;5(11):20–2. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013541. Available from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013541.

(29) Schläpfer M, Bettencourt L, Grauwin S, Raschke M, Claxton R, Smoreda Z, et al. The scaling of human interactions with city size. J R Soc Interface [Internet]. 2014;11(98). Doi: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0789. Available from: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2013.0789.

(30) Youn H, Bettencourt L, Lobo J, Strumsky D, Samaniego H, West G. Scaling and universality in urban economic diversification. J R Soc Interface [Internet]. 2016;13(114). Doi: 10.1098/rsif.2015.0937. Available from: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2015.0937.

(31) Ball P. Complexity: Decoding deep similarities. Nature [Internet]. 2017;545(7653): 154–155. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/545154a.

(32) Forero C, Villaveces J. Cincuenta años de ciencia en Colombia (1955-2005). Arfo editores e impresores Ltda. Fund Alejandro Ángel Escobar [Internet]. 1a. Ed. 2007;50:97–133. Available from: https://www.faae.org.co/_pdf/Libro50anios.pdf.

(33) Ordóñez-Matamoros HG, Cozzens SE, Garcia M. International co-authorship and research team performance in Colombia. Rev Policy Res [Internet]. 2010;27(4):415–31. Doi: 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2010.00449.x. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2010.00449.x.

(34) Lucio J, Lucio-Arias D, Rivera-Torres S, Tique J, Villarreal N, Lozano-Borda M, et al. Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología 2014 [Internet]. 1a. Ed. Ediciones Ántropos Ltda, editor. Bogotá, Colombia: Observatorio Colombiano de Ciencia y Tecnología; 2014. 242 p. Available from: https://ocyt.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/indicadores_2013.pdf.

(35) Villaveces J, Orozco L, Chavarro D, Ruiz C, Llanos E, Silva A, et al. La Investigación en Uniandes 2007 Elementos para una política. 1a. Ed. Orozco L, editor. Bogotá, Colombia: Ediciones Uniandes; 2008. 156 p.

(36) Sanchez-Torres J, Rivera-Torres S. A model for measuring research capacity from an intellectual capital-based approach in a Colombian higher education institution. A model for measuring research capacity using an intellectual capital-based approach in a colombian higher education instituti. Innovar [Internet]. 2009;19(Special issue-Educación):179–97. Available from: http://www.fce.unal.edu.co/media/files/innovar/EDUCACION2009.pdf.

(37) De Moya-Anegón F, Herrero-Solana V. Science in America Latina: A comparison of bibliometric and scientific-technical indicators. Scientometrics [Internet]. 1999;46(2):299–320. Doi: 10.1007/BF02464780. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02464780.

(38) West G, Brown J, Enquist B. The Fourth Dimension of Life: Fractal Geometry and Allometric Scaling of Organisms. Science [Internet]. 1999;284(5420):1677–9. Doi: 10.1126/science.284.5420.1677. Available from: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/284/5420/1677.

(39) Dodds P, Rothman D, Weitz J. Re-examination of the “3/4-law” of Metabolism. J Theor Biol [Internet]. 2001;209(1):9–27. Doi: 10.1006/jtbi.2000.2238. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519300922380.

(40) Kühnert C, Helbing D, West G. Scaling laws in urban supply networks. Phys A Stat Mech its Appl [Internet]. 2006;363(1):96–103. Doi: 10.1016/j.physa.2006.01.058. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037843710600094X.

(41) Bettencourt L, Lobo J, Helbing D, Kühnert C, West G. Growth, innovation, scaling, and the pace of life in cities. Proc Natl Acad Sci [Internet]. 2007;104(17):7301–6. Doi: 10.1073/pnas.0610172104. Available from: https://www.pnas.org/content/104/17/7301.

(42) Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Academic Ranking of World Universities [Internet]. 2015 [Consultado 2019/07/12]. Available from: http://www.shanghairanking.com/es/aboutus.html.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors grant the journal and Universidad del Valle the economic rights over accepted manuscripts, but may make any reuse they deem appropriate for professional, educational, academic or scientific reasons, in accordance with the terms of the license granted by the journal to all its articles.

Articles will be published under the Creative Commons 4.0 BY-NC-SA licence (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike).