Mediating effect of decision-making between the scientific council and the efficiency of public higher education institutions: case of the University of Sfax

In this study, we examined the impact of the mediator effect (decision-making) between the scientific council, as a governance mechanism, of public higher education institutions and their efficiency, through an empirical study based on a correlational investigation. Such studies are numerous and widely discussed for for-profit organizations, using linear regression techniques to examine the relationship between firm structure and composition and performance. However, for nonprofit organizations, such as public higher education institutions, studies are rare. To identify the relationship between the scientific council, decision-making, and the efficiency of public higher education institutions, we selected a sample of 19 public higher education institutions in Sfax for the period of 2017–2020 and 2020–2023. The results revealed that the university governance mechanism, namely the attribute of the scientific council (except for the "age" variable), indirectly affects the efficiency of university institutions through decision-making.