Relationship dynamics and probable strategic answers of brazilian post graduate programs in administration to the Capes evaluation: institutional propositions starting from the analysis of co-authorship networks

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the changes that have taken place in the structural configuration of the co-authorship networks among professors linked to national programs of post graduate (stricto sensu) in Administration and to formulate propositions, based on the institutional theory, regarding the probable strategic answers of such programs to the CAPES evaluation. A longitudinal cutting was adopted encompassing a six-year period, subdivided into two triennials: 2001-2003 and 2004-2006. The researched population includes 32 post-graduate programs that were evaluated by the Capes in 2001, as well as their 703 identified researchers. The data were collected based on the Lattes curriculum of professors who were active in those programs and were analyzed through routines made available by the the Ucinet 6.0 and Pajek 1.10 softwares. The results show an increase in co-operation through co-authorship from one triennial to the other, which would appear to indicate increased consent of the programs in relation to the requirements of the evaluating agency. These interactions may both reject or heighten coercive and normative institutional pressures on the part of the CAPES concerning the definition of the norms that serve as guidelines for the three-yearly evaluation of stricto sensu post-graduate programs in Brazil.