Measurement of Health Research and Development Efficiency of Countries with Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the research and development (R&D) capacity of countries by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. Variables in the DEA method consist of two inputs (health research and development expenditures and the number of full-time researchers) and three outputs (medical patents, biotechnology patents, and pharmaceutical patents). Full-time researchers in healthcare, the number of biotechnology patents, the number of pharmaceutical patents, and the number of medical technologies for 2019 within the scope of health research and development in the OECD database were determined and were considered as decision-making units in the analyses. These countries were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Romania, Singapore, and the Chinese. DEA analyses were performed using BCC-CCR input and output-oriented models. As a result of the analysis, 36.3% of the CCR models were within the scope of the research and 45.5% of the BCC models were found effective. The average efficiency of the research and development capacity of all countries within the range of the study was between 78-85%. In addition to these results, our research has shown that Turkey was fully effective in health research and development capacity according to BCC-CCR input and output oriented models. According to the analysis results, it was recommended to determine the health research and development capacity in a way that considers the current situation and the needs of the future, to be included in the strategic plan/programs and to be implemented. Structured Abstract: The most crucial factor that plays a role in developing/developed nations is the "technology" that qualified human capital has revealed as a result of discoveries. The invention of the plow, the invention of the wheel, the use of steam power in rail systems, and the production and use of technology such as automobiles, computers, chips, and diagnosis and treatment methods for diseases have brought many changes in the historical process and R&D activities from past to present have undertaken the primary catalyst of economic growth. R&D activities enable the production of products that facilitate human life, as well as equipment such as many drugs, vaccines, and medical devices that improve the health level of the individual. Today, the increase in global warming and changes in the ecological balance lead to new diseases that have important effects on the health of individuals. For example, the recent Covid-19 pandemic. With the vaccines and treatment methods produced to prevent COVID-19, this disease tried to be brought under control and all these activities were related to research and development activities. This was a current experience that reveals the importance of health R&D expenditures and investments, for this reason, studies to evaluate the field of health R&D are gaining importance day by day. In the literature, the number of studies evaluating the productivity of researchers and the investments in health research and developments is almost non-existent. Besides this, the number of studies in which the relationship between the number of researchers working full-time in the field of health and the number of medical patents has been limited. Besides this, patents are one of the important indicators obtained as a result of innovative processes and expressing economic value. This study investigated the health research and development capacity by using data-enveloped analysis. So it is important to determine the health research and development capacity in a way that takes into account the current situation to the needs of the future. The aim of this study was to determine the research and development capacity of countries by using the data envelopment analysis technique. The framework of this research includes: i) determining the technical efficiency of the countries for the health R&D capacity, ii) determining the reference clusters for the health R&D capacity of the countries, iii) determining the average technical efficiency of countries' health R&D capacity. Variables in the DEA method consist of two inputs (health research and development expenditures and the number of full-time researchers) and three outputs (medical patents, biotechnology patents, and pharmaceutical patents). Full-time researchers in healthcare, the number of biotechnology patents, the number of pharmaceutical patents, and the number of medical technologies for 2019 within the scope of health research and development in the OECD database were determined and were considered as decision making units in the analyses. These countries were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Romania, Singapore, and the Chinese. DEA analyses were performed using BCC-CCR input and output-oriented models. According to the descriptive information of the variables in the analysis; health R&D Expenditures mean was PPP$1078372000 ±1121746000 (min: 593320000, max: 2910425000); researchers mean was 5972.12 ± 5302.43 (min:327, max:14892); medical technology patent mean was 41.95 ± 53.89 (min: 1.7, max: 168.2); pharmaceuticals patents mean was 41.47 ± 44.12 (min:1.1, max: 137.2); biotechnology patents was 33.77 ± 40.51 (min: 0.00, max: 126.2). The average technical efficiency value of the countries was between 0.845-0.841 according to the BCC Output Oriented Model and the BCC Input Oriented Model. According to the CCR Input-Output-Oriented Model, the average technical efficiency value of countries was 0.789. The results obtained, 4 countries were determined to be effective according to the BCC-CCR input and output-oriented models. These countries are Latvia, Slovakia, Turkey and Singapore. Portugal was found to be effective according to BCC output and input-oriented models and was not effective according to CCR input and output-oriented models. Also, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, and Chinese countries were found to be ineffective in all BCC-CRR models. In this research, the effectiveness of R&D activities in 11 countries including Turkey was measured with DEA, a non-parametric performance measurement method. CCR and BCC models, which are the basic models of DEA, were used in the study. The results obtained from the analysis, 36.3% of the CCR models within the scope of the research and 45.5% of the BCC models were found effective. The average efficiency of the research and development capacity of all countries within the scope of the research was between 78 85%. In addition to these results, our research has shown that Turkey was fully effective in health research and development capacity according to BCC-CCR input and output-oriented models. In the coming years, the data of the R&D capacity can be developed at different year intervals, by applying different variables, different decision-making units and different methods. The results to be obtained as a result of these studies can help the countries that make up the decision-making units to prepare effective policies for the future.Bu çalışma sağlık alanındaki araştırma ve geliştirme kapasitesinin ülkeler düzeyinde veri zarflama analizi (VZA) kullanılarak incelenmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır. Veri zarflama analizinde araştırma değişkenleri iki girdi (sağlık araştırma ve geliştirme harcamaları ile tam zamanlı çalışan araştırmacı sayısı) ve üç çıktı (medical patent sayısı, bioteknoloji patent sayısı ve ilaç patent sayısı) değişkeni olmak üzere toplam 5 (beş) değişkenden oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, OECD veri tabanında sağlık araştırma ve geliştirme kapsamında 2019 yılı için sağlıkta araştırma ve geliştirme harcamaları, sağlıkta tam zamanlı çalışan araştırmacı sayısı, biyoteknoloji patent sayısı, ilaç patent sayısı ve medical patent sayılarında düzenli verisi bulunan 11 (onbir) ülke değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Bu ülkeler Çek Cumhuriyeti, Macaristan, Letonya, Polonya, Portekiz, Slovakya, Slovenya, Türkiye, Romanya, Singapur ve Çin’dir. Veri zarflama analizlerinde BCC-CCR girdi çıktı yönlü modeller kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Yapılan analiz sonucunda araştırma kapsamındaki ülkelerin %36,3’ü CCR modellerinde, %45,5’i BCC modellerinde tam etkin bulunmuştur. Araştırma kapsamındaki tüm ülkelerin araştırma ve geliştirme kapasitesinin etkinlik ortalaması %78-85 arasındadır. Ayrıca bu sonuçların yanısıra Türkiye, sağlıkta araştırma ve geliştirme kapasitesinde BCC-CCR girdi-çıktı yönlü tüm modellerde tam etkin bulunmuştur. Analiz sonuçlarına göre sağlıkta araştırma ve geliştirme kapasitesinin mevcut durumu ve gelecek ihtiyaçların da dikkate alınacak şekilde belirlenmesi, stratejik plan ve programlarda bu alana yönelik iyileştirme ve geliştirme faaliyetlerine yer verilmesi ve bu faaliyetlerin uygulanması önerilmektedir.