Do university units differ in the efficiency of resource utilization?

The efficiency of universities is attracting increased interest, with most studies comparing the performance between different universities. However, the within-university variation is largely overlooked in the literature. Using data envelopment analysis this paper identifies heterogeneity in the performance of 47 units of a leading Swedish university (the Royal Institute of Technology) in terms of resource utilization. The findings suggest the following: First, three quarters of the units exhibit similar high performance. Second, the units are more efficient in using resources for research than for teaching. Third, efficiency in research is highly correlated with efficiency in teaching, implying a complementary relationship.