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The Governance and Performance of Research Universities: Evidence from Europe and the U.S

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Listed:
  • Philippe Aghion
  • Mathias Dewatripont
  • Caroline M. Hoxby
  • Andreu Mas-Colell
  • André Sapir

Abstract

We investigate how university governance affects research output, measured by patenting and international university research rankings. For both European and U.S. universities, we generate several measures of autonomy, governance, and competition for research funding. We show that university autonomy and competition are positively correlated with university output, both among European countries and among U.S. public universities. We then identity a (political) source of exogenous shocks to funding of U.S. universities. We demonstrate that, when a state's universities receive a positive funding shock, they produce more patents if they are more autonomous and face more competition from private research universities. Finally, we show that during periods when merit-based competitions for federal research funding have been most prominent, universities produce more patents when they receive an exogenous funding shock, suggesting that routine participation in such competitions hones research skill.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe Aghion & Mathias Dewatripont & Caroline M. Hoxby & Andreu Mas-Colell & André Sapir, 2009. "The Governance and Performance of Research Universities: Evidence from Europe and the U.S," NBER Working Papers 14851, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14851
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    Cited by:

    1. Reinhilde Veugelers (ed.), 2009. "The Evaluation of the Finnish National Innovation System - Full Report," Books, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, number 495.
    2. Michael F. Dinerstein & Caroline M. Hoxby & Jonathan Meer & Pablo Villanueva, 2014. "Did the Fiscal Stimulus Work for Universities?," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 263-320, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. De Fraja, Gianni & Valbonesi, Paola, 2012. "The design of the university system," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 317-330.
    4. Kellermann, Kersten & Schlag, Carsten-Henning, 2012. "Hochschulen im Zentrum der Wachstumspolitik: Von der europäischen zur liechtensteinischen Perspektive," KOFL Studien, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz, volume 8, number 8.
    5. Conti, Annamaria & Gaule, Patrick, 2011. "Is the US outperforming Europe in university technology licensing? A new perspective on the European Paradox," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 123-135, February.
    6. 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.
    7. Philip G. Altbach & Jamil Salmi, 2011. "The Road to Academic Excellence : The Making of World-Class Research Universities [El camino hacia la excelencia académica : la constitución de universidades de investigación de rango mundial]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2357, December.
    8. Elise S. Brezis, 2018. "Is Brain Drain passé? The Optimal Timing of Migration," Working Papers 2018-02, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    9. Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Aleksandra Parteka, 2011. "Efficiency of European public higher education institutions: a two-stage multicountry approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(3), pages 887-917, December.
    10. World Bank, 2020. "Improving the Performance of Higher Education in Vietnam," World Bank Publications - Reports 33681, The World Bank Group.
    11. Pietro Giorgio Lovaglio & Gianmarco Vacca & Stefano Verzillo, 2016. "Human capital estimation in higher education," Advances in Data Analysis and Classification, Springer;German Classification Society - Gesellschaft für Klassifikation (GfKl);Japanese Classification Society (JCS);Classification and Data Analysis Group of the Italian Statistical Society (CLADAG);International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS), vol. 10(4), pages 465-489, December.
    12. Jo Ritzen, 2016. "University autonomy: Improving educational output," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 240-240, March.
    13. Castelló-Climent, Amparo & Hidalgo-Cabrillana, Ana, 2010. "Quality and quantity of education in the process of development," UC3M Working papers. Economics we1020, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    14. Bolli, Thomas & Somogyi, Frank, 2011. "Do competitively acquired funds induce universities to increase productivity?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 136-147, February.
    15. Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Guadalupe Valera Blanes, 2013. "University merging process," Working Papers. Serie AD 2013-01, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    16. Jorge Niosi, 2010. "Building National and Regional Innovation Systems," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14006.
    17. Antonelli, Cristiano & Fassio, Claudio, 2012. "University-industry relations and the evolution of knowledge governance. the italian evidence in the first part of the xx century," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201212, University of Turin.
    18. Castelló-Climent, Amparo & Hidalgo-Cabrillana, Ana, 2012. "The role of educational quality and quantity in the process of economic development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 391-409.
    19. Millot, Benoit, 2015. "International rankings: Universities vs. higher education systems," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 156-165.
    20. Brezis Elise S., 2019. "Should individuals migrate before acquiring education or after? A new model of Brain Waste vs. Brain Drain," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-11, June.
    21. World Bank, 2012. "Benchmarking the Governance of Tertiary Education Systems," World Bank Publications - Reports 21588, The World Bank Group.
    22. Bolli, Thomas & Olivares, Maria & Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Daraio, Cinzia & Aracil, Adela Garcia & Lepori, Benedetto, 2016. "The differential effects of competitive funding on the production frontier and the efficiency of universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 91-104.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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