Cost drivers in the brazilian federal universities.

Abstract

This research aims to identify cost-causing factors in Brazilian federal universities and the degree of influence on total cost. From a literary survey about cost-causing factors in higher education institutions, the influence of the four most cited factors was verified through regression analysis with panel data. Thus, based on the results that include 63 institutions, with data available in the period from 2000 to 2009, it can be concluded that the number of undergraduate students and the number of technical-administrative employees are the variables that have the greatest influence on the total cost, followed respectively by the involvement of universities with graduate studies; number of graduate students and the number of intellectual property records. The research is relevant in the context of strategic cost management as a fundamental alternative in the search for more efficient public management, especially when seeking to know the factors that influence costs in federal universities.