Measuring Third-Mission efficiency in Mexico’s Public State Universities: a DEA and super-efficiency approachefficiency

10.22579/23463910.1260
Published 2025-12-14
content - research articles

Abstract

Problematic. Efficiency assessments in Mexican higher education have focused largely on First- and Second-Mission indicators (teaching and research). Prior DEA-based analyses of Public State Universities (UPES) addressed Third-Mission performance but could not produce a complete ranking of development objectives. Objective. To estimate Third-Mission efficiency among UPES and generate a discriminating ranking using Data Envelopment Analysis augmented with super-efficiency. Materials and Methods. We specified three models entrepreneurship, innovation, and social commitment—and applied them to twenty-one UPES in Mexico. Efficiency scores were obtained via DEA with super-efficiency to enhance discrimination among decision-making units. Results. Overall, 52% of UPES were efficient in the combined inputs-and outputs specification. In disaggregated analyses, the innovation model exhibited the strongest performance, while entrepreneurship and social commitment yielded comparable efficiency patterns. Discussion. Super-efficiency improves DEA’s discriminatory power and supports a practical ranking of UPES in Third-Mission activities; nonetheless, it clusters institutions with similar scores rather than fully ordering all units. Conclusions. Despite limited quantitative data on Third-Mission activities, UPES show efficiency gains and scope for further improvement. The study contributes empirical evidence on Third-Mission efficiency in Mexico’s state university system. Contribution / Originality. This article is one of the first to use the supper efficiency technique as a reinforcement method in Higher Education in Mexico to measure its efficiency.

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