EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN PERNAMBUCO STATE HIGH SCHOOL: an intertemporal analysis in the light of the DEA and the Malmquist Index

This study analyzes the technical efficiency of public spending on high school in the state network of Pernambuco in the period from 2017 to 2019. The 185 municipalities with state high schools were grouped into homogeneous clusters using the k-means method, based on socioeconomic and population indicators. The product-oriented DEA-BCC model was applied to measure technical efficiency and the Malmquist Productivity Index was applied to analyze the temporal dynamics of productivity. The results indicate that only 3.3% of the municipalities reached maximum efficiency in both periods and that the Malmquist Index showed productivity growth. It is concluded that the inefficiency does not result primarily from the insufficiency of resources, but from the underutilization of the processes of conversion of these resources into pedagogical results, with relevant implications for the formulation of educational public policies