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Adam Smith Goes to College: An Economist Becomes an Academic Administrator

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  • Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Abstract

The author asks whether it is useful to view universities in a utility-maximizing framework and shows that university organizing virtually guarantees that the utility-maximizing model is the incorrect approach. He then discusses resource allocation issues at Cornell and reflects upon how concepts that are obvious to economists helped or hindered decision making at Cornell. The author hopes to convey not that economic concepts are irrelevant in operating a university, but rather that it takes a long time to explain to all the actors in the system why these concepts should matter and even longer to actually make them matter.

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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.13.1.99
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 13 (1999)
Issue (Month): 1 (Winter)
Pages: 99-116

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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:13:y:1999:i:1:p:99-116

Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.13.1.99
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References

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  1. Boyes, William J & Happel, Stephen K, 1989. "Auctions as an Allocation Mechanism in Academia: The Case of Faculty Offices," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 37-40, Summer.
  2. Cukierman, A. & Tommasi, M., 1997. "When Does It Take a Nixon to Go to China," Papers 30-97, Tel Aviv.
  3. Ehrenberg, Ronald & Kasper, Hirschel & Rees, Daniel, 1991. "Faculty turnover at American colleges and universities: Analyses of AAUP data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 99-110, June.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Fethke, Gary, 2005. "Strategic determination of higher education subsidies and tuitions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 601-609, October.
  2. Denton Marks, 2002. "Academic Standards as Public Goods and Varieties of Free-Rider Behaviour," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 145-163.
  3. DEL REY, Elena, 2000. "Teaching versus research: a model of state univerity competition," CORE Discussion Papers 2000030, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  4. McDowell, John & Singell Jr., Larry D. & Stater, Mark, 2009. "Congratulations or condolences? The role of human capital in the cultivation of a university administrator," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 258-267, April.
  5. Quentin David, 2009. "The Determinants of Research Production by U.S. Universities," CREA Discussion Paper Series 09-16, Center for Research in Economic Analysis, University of Luxembourg.

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