Dynamic efficiency of primary education in Brazil: Socioeconomic and infrastructure influence on school performance

Brazilian educational indicators have shown virtually no improvement since 2000, according to national and international evaluations. However, there are large disparities among schools, even in the poorest regions. This work evaluates efficiency of primary education in Brazilian schools using a dynamic DEA model, taking into account school differences in the socioeconomic levels of its students. Dynamic modelling is made possible by the inclusion of an infrastructure index as a carry-over between periods. Results are based on three model specifications that differ on their treatment of the socioeconomic variable. Efficiency distributions of these models are not statistically equal, but the general conclusions are convergent. They show almost no evolution on school efficiency between 2007 and 2015, but indicate possible efficiency improvements by investments in school infrastructure.