Establishing the systemic basis of social returns on investments formation in public sector university physical infrastructures in low-income countries

Abstract The concerns about the economic returns of public higher education institutions and their physical infrastructures have been causing worrisome declines in investments in public higher education institutions in low-income countries. Maintaining the level of investments necessitates managing the expected social return on investment (SROI), which encompasses various direct and indirect time-based components. To support the systemic foundation of the problem for more dynamic system modelling and policy creation, this study intends to investigate the SROI generation process in public sector universities in low-income countries from a system-thinking perspective. We envisioned a systemic origin of the SROI formation process in public sector universities where the physical infrastructures operate by defining the problem, identifying forty-nine pertinent variables, dividing them by the system boundaries, and establishing the short- and longer-term study horizons. The findings adopted the recommended systemic characteristics and the principles of the system-thinking approach. The advanced steps of system conceptualization were not covered. This study may facilitate further application of the system dynamic modelling approach. The subsequent steps may be structuring the complete system and its application in real-life situations, verifying the hypothesized patterns of the system elements by quantitative data, simulating the system’s model, and proposing the required control policy. Also, developing the quantification frameworks for the system’s intangible elements may be a topic for future research.