This article proposes a methodology for a cost-benefit analysis of quality circles. The proposed system is based on the accountability principle, and it is conducted at three levels: project, circles, and the entire quality circle system. Flowcharts are included. (Author/CT)

Empirically estimates a multiple-product fixed total cost function and output relationship for 295 U.S. private liberal-arts colleges. Statistical results suggest that there are economies of scale and scope in higher education. Research at such colleges is not cost-effective. (Contains 31 references.) (MLH)

Relying heavily on equations and tabular data, this paper analyzes the educational cost functions of primary and secondary schooling levels in Latin America. Economies of scale are found for both levels in Bolivian and Paraguayan urban schools; schools combining primary and secondary school services are shown to be less cost effective. (23…

Reanalyzes H. Thomas's 1980s data, which used teaching group as the unit of analysis and illuminated some institutional disparities in provision of General Certificate of Education (GCE) A-levels. Uses multilevel analysis to focus on individual students in a hierarchical framework. Among the study institutions, school sixth forms appear less…

Activities within a library are combined with the library's floor plan to develop a model of the library as a network of queues. This model can be used to predict average patron processing times and costs as they are affected by demand characteristics and floor plan variations. (Author/FM)

Applies data envelopment analysis to measure value added in Master of Business Administration education in the United States. Highlights the MBA program as an example of a value-adding process in education, and demonstrates how such programs' efficiency in providing value to students may be evaluated. The top 20 MBA programs resemble the second 20…

Reports internal rates of return (IRORs) to college education based on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. IROR declined from 1969 to 1974 but by 1978, approached the 1969 level. From 1978 to 1982, IROR either increased or slightly decreased. From 1982 to 1985, IROR remained essentially unchanged, according to one measure, or increased…

Discusses the economic value of postsecondary education in terms of subsequent annual earnings. Presents disaggregated data to demonstrate that for about one-third of all positions in the work force, returns on educational investment are substantial. (DR)

The analysis of costs of National Institutes of Health (NIH) bio-medical research demonstrates that the increased expenditures for research project grants are due to such factors as real growth in the program, artifacts of the calculation method, and the extent to which project periods of awards have lengthened. (Author/DB)

Investigates the cost efficiency of British universities, based on a flexible multiproduct cost-function model. UK universities are characterized by increasing returns to scale. Returns to scale in research are increasing for the top and middle university groups and constant for the bottom group. Increasing returns hold for undergraduate teaching…

Applies the literature of bundling, tie-in sales, and vertical integration to higher education. Students are often required to purchase a package of courses, some of which are unrelated to their major. This kind of bundling policy can be utilized as a profit-maximizing strategy for universities exercising a degree of monopolistic power. (12…

This work extends the theory of the fixed charge transportation problem (FCTP), currently based mostly on a forty-year-old publication by Hirsch and Danzig. This paper presents novel properties that need to be considered by those using existing, or those developing new methods for optimizing FCTP. It also defines the problem in an easier way,…

The author discusses various aspects of training and development: formal job-related training and development, the behavioral/cognitive split in informal learning on the job, workplace training inside and out, costs and benefits of workplace learning, and forces accounting for growth and decline in the training and development function in…

Presents data which support the positive contribution of education in (1) stimulating national economic growth, (2) reducing expenditures for human services and decreasing unemployment, and (3) increasing national defense. Considers the impact of education on reducing racial disparities, and presents a cost-benefit model of educational…

Examines production and cost structures of 28 Turkish universities to estimate their economies of scale and scope. Estimates multiproduct cost functions for teaching and research, examining social, health, and engineering sciences departments across 186 college faculties. Average incremental and marginal costs are highest for graduate instruction…