Determinants of University Efficiency Focusing on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Activities

One of the main and most important locomotives of knowledge transfer is higher education institutions. The productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness issues in higher education institutions are of high importance for policymakers and higher education professionals in the construction of innovative strategies. In this context, the topic of the research is about the measurement of efficiency and determining the factors that affect the performance of the university efficiency in the focus of entrepreneurship and innovation activities, which is considered as the third role of the universities. Based on the data for the years 2011–2016, firstly it is aimed to calculate the efficiency scores of the top 50 universities in the “Entrepreneurial and Innovative University Index” between 2012–2017 by data envelopment analysis, secondly, it is aimed to examine the environmental factors affecting the efficiency scores with the panel data analysis and to analyze in detail the elements necessary for higher ranking of successes. According to the results obtained, it was observed that 35 universities in Turkey, which are included in the scope of the study, do not use resources effectively and provide a systematic improvement periodically. According to the panel Tobit model results, presence of technopark, GDP per capita by region, the score of the graduates of the doctorate level, the establishment of the university after 1992 and the foundation year have a positive effect on the efficiency scores in the focus of entrepreneurship and innovation activities. Additionally, concerning the results, the efficiency of the universities in the Central Anatolia and Marmara Region is higher than the universities in the Blacksea, Eastern, and Southeastern Regions. Moreover, being a public university, the presence of a medical faculty, the number of undergraduate students per academician, and the existence of a vocational high school adversely affect efficiency.