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The Impact of U.S. News College Rankings on the Compensation of College and University Presidents

Author

Listed:
  • Ryan Yeung

    (Urban Policy and Planning)

  • Philip Gigliotti

    (University at Albany, SUNY)

  • Phuong Nguyen-Hoang

    (University of Iowa)

Abstract

Widespread attention to college tuition and student loan debt has resulted in increasing scrutiny of high levels of compensation for college and university administrators. Prior research has sought to identify a “pay for performance” relationship in executive compensation, but discovered no clear link between presidential salaries and performance measures. This study proposes U.S. News & World Report college rankings as a highly meaningful performance metric and employs a fixed effects regression model to determine the relationship between college rankings and presidential salary. We find a significant relationship between rank and presidential salary at public universities, but not at private universities and liberal arts colleges, consistent with an academic capitalism model.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan Yeung & Philip Gigliotti & Phuong Nguyen-Hoang, 2019. "The Impact of U.S. News College Rankings on the Compensation of College and University Presidents," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(1), pages 1-17, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:60:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11162-018-9501-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-018-9501-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:mpr:mprres:6050 is not listed on IDEAS
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    3. James Monks & Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 1999. "The Impact of US News and World Report College Rankings on Admission Outcomes and Pricing Decisions at Selective Private Institutions," NBER Working Papers 7227, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Weisbrod,Burton A. & Ballou,Jeffrey P. & Asch,Evelyn D., 2008. "Mission and Money," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521515108.
    5. Ying Sophie Huang & Carl R. Chen, 2013. "Are college chief executives paid like corporate CEOs or bureaucrats?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(21), pages 3035-3043, July.
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