Do the Australian universities have scope to enhance organisational efficiency? Lessons from Bangladesh

The Australian universities and the Bangladeshi universities have similar teaching and non-teaching staffing pattern. In both cases, the ratio of the teaching to non-teaching staff is irrational. The research explores the implications of such phenomena in the context of Bangladesh using panel data and econometric technique. The results showed that the Bangladeshi public universities could have saved education cost by 8 percent per student, if the ratio were rational. The lesson for the Australian universities is that the Australian universities can save a significant amount of education expenditures per student by rationalising the non-teaching staff. In the context of diminishing Australian government’s support to the universities, it may be a strategic way to survive in the long run