Analysis of the determinants of educational efficiency of the state of Ceará

Abstract

The state of Ceará has shown significant improvements in the education sector since 2007, especially in the early years of elementary school which has already surpassed the educational assessment targets set by the government. Thus this article seeks to identify the determinants of efficiency that led this state to improve its educational performance, considering variables directly linked to education, as well as socioeconomic variables, which have great influence in this sector. The results clearly show the existence of clusters of municipalities considered benchmarking that geographically coincide with the locations of the three campuses of the medical school of the Federal University of Ceará. The variables, income, per capita expenditure and maternal education were shown as determinants of efficiency of Ceará municipalities, but the variable related to access to sanitary sewer showed to be a strong determinant of inefficiency, especially for the poor municipalities.

Basic education; Teaching quality; Efficiency