Analysing the Importance of Demographic Factor as Determinant of Research Efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

The current study aims to discuss the importance of how efficiently researchers utilize research grants from public grants, private institutions, and international agencies. This paper adopts the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to measure the relative inefficiencies of University Putra Malaysia (UPM) faculty members using data collected from 2010 to 2016. This research also investigates the relationships between demographic factors, the field of study, and research inefficiency. The input and output variables used in this study are research grants received by academic faculty members and their corresponding publications in Citation Indexed Journals (CIJ), non-CIJ, and publishing books and chapters in books, with each output, measured separately. Data is divided into two clusters: science and social science. The demographic factor examined is the academic position of the researcher. Research inefficiency for both science and social science fields generally worsens with higher academic positions. The effect for the science field is more pronounced for CIJ, non-CIJ, and books. This study will be adding new knowledge on the relationship between age and research productivity based on the Malaysian environment and culture. It also will be a guideline for policy formulation in public universities in managing talent pool based on age influence towards research productivity.