CALL FOR PAPERS : 12th International Workshop on Efficiency in Education, Health and other Public Services

Dear colleagues, 

We have the great pleasure of inviting you to participate at the 12th International Workshop on Efficiency in Education, Health and other Public Services to be held in Dublin, October 15-16, 2026.  

Call for papers 

Across many advanced economies, public sectors are operating under increasingly stringent fiscal constraints, shaped by prolonged periods of low economic growth, rising inflationary pressures, and growing societal demands for high-quality public services. In this context, improving the efficiency with which public resources are allocated and transformed into services has become not only a managerial concern, but a central policy challenge. Education, health care, and other core public services are expected to deliver better outcomes while coping with limited budgets, complex governance arrangements, and heightened accountability requirements. 

Over the past decades, the analysis of efficiency, productivity, and performance in public services has attracted sustained attention from scholars and policymakers alike. A wide range of quantitative and qualitative approaches has been developed to assess how public organizations perform, how resources are used, and how outcomes are generated. Yet, despite this rich body of research, translating analytical results into actionable policy insights remains difficult. These difficulties stem from persistent empirical and methodological challenges, including the specification of production functions in public service provision, the measurement of outputs and outcomes, the treatment of heterogeneity and contextual factors, and the incorporation of multiple objectives and stakeholders. As a result, there is still a gap between performance measurement exercises and their effective use in public policy design, evaluation, and implementation. 

At the same time, more effective and informed use of public resources has the potential to generate substantial benefits. Improvements in efficiency and effectiveness can free up fiscal space, support economic growth, and enhance the quality and accessibility of public services. Equally important, performance assessment frameworks that explicitly account for equity considerations can help policymakers understand how resources and outcomes are distributed across population groups, territories, and institutions, thereby supporting more inclusive and fair policy choices. 

The Workshop aims to address these issues by focusing on the conceptual, methodological, and empirical challenges involved in measuring and evaluating performance in education, health care, and other public service sectors. It seeks to provide a forum for critical discussion on how performance metrics are constructed, interpreted, and used, and on how they can meaningfully inform public policy and managerial decision-making. Specific attention will be paid to the links between performance measurement and policy evaluation, with contributions exploring efficiency, effectiveness, and equity either separately or jointly. 

The Workshop welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions that advance understanding of public sector performance and support rigorous public policy evaluation. Submissions may propose new methodological approaches, refine or extend existing techniques, or offer innovative empirical applications using administrative, survey, or mixed data sources. Theoretical papers that contribute to the conceptual foundations of efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and performance measurement in public services are equally encouraged. By bringing together scholars from different disciplines – including economics, public administration, management, education, health policy, and related fields – the Workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and generate insights with clear relevance for policy and practice. 

The workshop is the twelfth of a series of academic meetings focused on the efficiency analysis of education institutions and other public sectors. The previous editions took place in eight prestigious European Universities located in Greece (Thessaloniki, 2013), United Kingdom (London, 2014 and Huddersfield, 2018), Belgium (Leuven, 2015), Italy (Milan, 2016, 2024, and Pisa, 2022), Hungary (Budapest, 2017 and 2025), Spain (Barcelona, 2019), Spain (Madrid, 2023). In 2026, the Workshop is organized by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin.  

Keynote speakers 

We are pleased to confirm that the keynote speakers for the conference are: 

Professor Francesca Borgonovi, University College London, Social Research Institute and Head of Skills Analysis, OECD Centre for Skills 

Submission 

Scholars are invited to submit an abstract of at most 500 words describing the purpose, method, scope, results, and conclusions or their communication proposal. Abstracts must be submitted by June 26, 2026 at Effect.conference2026@esri.ie . Notification of acceptance will be sent out by July 3, 2026.  

Prospective participants can also propose not only single papers, but also entire sessions, that can share thematic interests or methodological communalities. In this case, please indicate the name of the Chair responsible for organising the session.  

Best Paper Award 

All Workshop participants can participate for the best paper award. To participate, authors must submit the full paper (abstracts only not accepted) by July 31, 2026. 

Fees 

Fees include coffee breaks, lunches, and workshop materials. *Scholars from developing countries can also pay this lowered fee. Payments can be made by using the link above.

Venue 

The event is hosted by the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) – Address: Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, D02 K138, Ireland  

Workshop’s Program 

The programme will be available in August 2026.  

The Workshop will start indicatively around 9 am on October 15th and will end around 2 pm on October 16th, with a social dinner on Thursday evening. 

Organizing and Scientific Committee 

Prof. Tommaso Agasisti, Politecnico di Milano 

Prof. Kristof De Witte, KU Leuven and Maastricht University 

Prof. Ana Camanho, University of Porto 

Local Organizers  

Prof. Selina McCoy, ESRI | Economic and Social Research Institute  

Prof. Iulia Siedschlag, ESRI | Economic and Social Research Institute 

Dr Juan Duran Vanegas, ESRI | Economic and Social Research Institute 

Dr Demos Michael, ESRI | Economic and Social Research Institute 

Contact 

Effect.conference2026@esri.ie