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Teaching versus research: A multi-tasking approach to multi-department universities

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  • Gautier, Axel
  • Wauthy, Xavier

Abstract

The budget of a university essentially depends on the number of students it enrols. In multi-department universities resources created in one department may be redistributed to other departments. This redistribution affects the way academics share their working time between research and teaching activities. Redistribution creates free-riding on teaching efforts. In this paper, we show that by designing internal financial rules which create yardstick competition for research funds, a multi-department university may induce better teaching quality and research, as compared to the performance of independent departments.
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  • Gautier, Axel & Wauthy, Xavier, 2007. "Teaching versus research: A multi-tasking approach to multi-department universities," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 273-295, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:51:y:2007:i:2:p:273-295
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    Cited by:

    1. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2011. "Kaderschmieden der Wirtschaft und/oder Universitäten? Der Auftrag der Wirtschaftsuniversitäten und –fakultäten im 21. Jahrhundert," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(3), pages 317-337, August.
    2. Zahra Murad & Charitini Stavropoulou & Graham Cookson, 2019. "Incentives and gender in a multi-task setting: An experimental study with real-effort tasks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Laurent Franckx & Frans P. Vries & Ben White, 2022. "A note on organizational structure and environmental liability," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 24(2), pages 173-193, April.
    4. Czerny, Achim I. & Fosgerau, Mogens & Jost, Peter-J. & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2019. "Why pay for jobs (and not for tasks)?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 419-433.
    5. Marie-Laure Cabon-Dhersin & Jonas Didisse, 2017. "Inter-university competition and high tuition fees," Post-Print hal-02356872, HAL.
    6. Masahito Ambashi, 2021. "Theoretical Analysis of University Research and Teaching in the Presence of External Research Funding," KIER Working Papers 1069, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    7. Harris, Ling & Majerczyk, Michael & Newman, Andrew H., 2018. "An examination of how the effort-inducing property of incentive compensation influences performance in multidimensional tasks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 185-196.
    8. Gustavo Bergantiños & Jose María Chamorro & Leticia Lorenzo & Silvia Lorenzo‐Freire, 2018. "Mixed rules in multi‐issue allocation situations," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 66-77, February.
    9. Lisa Grazzini & Annalisa Luporini & Alessandro Petretto, 2010. "Competition between State Universities," Working Papers - Economics wp2010_02.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    10. Jung-Kyu Jung & Jae Young Choi, 2022. "Choice and allocation characteristics of faculty time in Korea: effects of tenure, research performance, and external shock," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2847-2869, May.
    11. El Ouardighi, Fouad & Kogan, Konstantin & Vranceanu , Radu, 2013. "Publish or Teach ? : Analysis of the Professor's Optimal Career Plan," ESSEC Working Papers WP1307, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    12. Nicola Lacetera, 2009. "Different Missions and Commitment Power in R&D Organizations: Theory and Evidence on Industry-University Alliances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 565-582, June.
    13. Beath, John & Poyago-Theotoky, Joanna & Ulph, David, 2012. "University funding systems: Impact on research and teaching," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 6, pages 1-24.
    14. repec:hal:journl:hal-00823514 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Elias Carroni & Berardino Cesi & Dimitri Paolini, 2016. "Local University Supply and Distance: A Welfare Analysis with Centralized and Decentralized Tuition Fees," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(2), pages 239-252, July.
    16. de, Vries Frans & Franckx, Laurent, 2012. "A Note on Organizational Design and the Optimal Allocation of Environmental Liability," Stirling Economics Discussion Papers 2012-09, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    17. Manfredi M. A. La Manna, 2008. "Assessing The Assessment Or, The Rae And The Optimal Organization Of University Research," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 55(5), pages 637-653, November.
    18. Cynthia L. Harter & William E. Becker & Michael Watts, 2011. "Time Allocations and Reward Structures for US Academic Economists from 1955–2005: Evidence from Three National Surveys," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 10(2), pages 6-27.
    19. Jellal, Mohamed, 2014. "Gouvernance optimale moderne des universités [Modern optimal governance of universities]," MPRA Paper 57275, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Berardino Cesi & Dimitri Paolini, 2014. "Peer Group and Distance: When Widening University Participation is Better," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 82, pages 110-132, December.
    21. El Ouardighi, Fouad & Kogan, Konstantin & Vranceanu, Radu, 2013. "Publish or teach? Analysis of the professor's optimal career path," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1995-2009.
    22. Artés, Joaquín & Pedraja-Chaparro, Francisco & Salinas-JiméneZ, Mª del Mar, 2017. "Research performance and teaching quality in the Spanish higher education system: Evidence from a medium-sized university," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 19-29.
    23. Cantner, Uwe & Grashof, Nils & Grebel, Thomas & Zhang, Xijie, 2023. "When Excellence is not Excellent: The Impact of the Excellence Initiative on the Relative Productivity of German Universities," MPRA Paper 118139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Guadalupe Valera Blanes, 2013. "University merging process," Working Papers. Serie AD 2013-01, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    25. Hidalgo-Hidalgo Marisa & Valera Guadalupe, 2016. "University Merging Process: A Guideline Proposal for Excellence-Enhancing," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1359-1386, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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