The Efficiency of Public Spending on Education in The Municipalities of Santa Catarina

This paper had the objective to verify the factors that affect the level of efficiency in the application of the public resources in basic education in the municipalities of the state of Santa Catarina, in Brazil. For this, the non-parametric method of data envelopement analysis was used. Subsequently, a Tobit regression model was applied. It can be inferred, at the level of significance of 10%, that the quality of life of a municipality positively affects the efficiency in the application of public resources with education in the municipalities of Santa Catarina. The gross domestic product (GDP) presented a negative relation with the efficiency scale, and it can be affirmed that at the level of significance of 5%, municipalities that presented greater economic power were less efficient. Finally, demographic density showed a positive relation with the efficiency of the municipalities of Santa Catarina at the level of significance of 10%, it is understood that more densely populated municipalities can present a higher demand for education without the need of a greater application of resources.