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Determinants of international university rankings scores

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  • Gabriele Marconi
  • Jo Ritzen

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between a university's score in international university rankings, its expenditure per student and other factors such as university mission, size and productive inefficiency. We develop an economic model of rankings and universities and estimate this model with data on universities classified in the top 200 by the Times Higher Education Supplement ranking of 2007. We find that the elasticity of a university's ranking score for the expenditure per student is between 4% and 9%, and that there are no clear signs of inefficiency in production among the top 200 universities. University mission and size are also significant predictors of ranking score. These results are especially interesting given the relevance attributed to rankings by government officials, university directors and students.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriele Marconi & Jo Ritzen, 2015. "Determinants of international university rankings scores," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(57), pages 6211-6227, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:47:y:2015:i:57:p:6211-6227
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2015.1068921
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jacek Pietrucha, 2018. "Country-specific determinants of world university rankings," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(3), pages 1129-1139, March.
    2. Ritzen, Jo & Haas, Jasmina & Neeleman, Annemarie & Teixeira, Pedro N., 2016. "European Identity and the Learning Union," IZA Policy Papers 121, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Kshetri, Nir, 2017. "The evolution of the internet of things industry and market in China: An interplay of institutions, demands and supply," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 49-67.
    4. Ming Yuan Hsieh, 2020. "The Most Sustainable Niche Principles of Social Media Education in A Higher Education Contracting Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Jo Ritzen, 2016. "University autonomy: Improving educational output," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 240-240, March.
    6. Păunescu Carmen & Drăgan Denisa & Găucă Oana, 2017. "Examining obligations to society for QS Stars best ranked universities in social responsibility," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 12(4), pages 551-570, December.
    7. Ritzen, Jo, 2020. "Public universities, in search of enhanced funding," MERIT Working Papers 2020-020, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Congbin Guo & Xiaowei Hao & Jiaqi Wu & Tizhen Hu, 2023. "The effect of national higher education initiatives on university rankings," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Mónica Benito & Pilar Gil & Rosario Romera, 2019. "Funding, is it key for standing out in the university rankings?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 771-792, November.
    10. Benito, M. & Gil, P. & Romera, R., 2020. "Evaluating the influence of country characteristics on the Higher Education System Rankings’ progress," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3).

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