Total Factor Productivity Growth of Elementary Education in India and Its Determinants: Evidence from a Non-parametric Data Envelopment Approach

The major departure of this paper from the available literature is the approach to estimating total factor productivity growth (TFPG) for elementary education in India, by constructing two frontiers (i) for general category states (GCS) and (ii) for special category states and union territories (SCSU as these two groups are not homogeneous and operate under different fiscal and economic conditions. Hence, maximum educational output producible from an input bundle by a school within a particular group may not be as high as what could be produced if the school could choose to locate in the other groups. TFPG is measured by Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) using non-parametric data envelopment analysis for primary and upper primary levels of education and for GCS and SCSU SCS&UT–primary, SCS&UT–upper primary. Results of panel regression suggest that infrastructural variables, policy variables, school-specific variables and also the state-level macro-aggregates are important in explaining MPI, and the interaction effect between different explanatory variables is also evident. Some policy suggestions for improving TFPG are highlighted.