Research Article
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Year 2024, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 52 - 71, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1425682

Abstract

References

  • Ahlbäck Öberg, S. & Boberg, J, (2023). The decollegialization of higher education institutions in Sweden. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 9(2), 126–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2023.2192317
  • Akademiska hus (2022). Årsredovisning 2022 [Annual report 2022]. https://www.akademiskahus.se/globalassets/dokument/ekonomi/ekonomiska-rapporter/akademiska_hus_arsredovisning_2022_sve.pdf
  • Alleman, N. F., Allen, C. C., & Haviland, D. (2017). Collegiality and the collegium in an era of faculty differentiation: ASHE higher education report. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Anderson, R. (2006). British universities past and present. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Axtell, J. (2006). The making of Princeton University: From Woodrow Wilson to the present. Princeton University Press.
  • Bowen, H. R. (1980). The costs of higher education: How much do colleges and universities spend per student and how much should they spend? Jossey-Bass.
  • Clark, B. R. (1983). The higher education system: Academic organization in cross-national perspective. University of California Press.
  • Clotfelter, C. T. (1996). Buying the best: Cost escalation in elite higher education. Princeton University Press.
  • Comrie, A. C. (2021). Like nobody's business: An insider's guide to how US university finances really work. Open Book Publishers.
  • Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty: The rise of the all-administrative university and why it matters. Oxford University Press.
  • Graeber, D. (2018). Bullshit jobs. Simon & Schuster.
  • Harris, E. E. (2011). University boards and performance. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Temple University.
  • Hofstadter, R., & Metzger, W. P. (1955). The development of academic freedom in the United States. Columbia University Press.
  • Holmén, J. (2022). The autonomy of higher education in Finland and Sweden: Global management trends meet national political culture and governance models. Comparative Education, 58(2), 147–163.
  • Holmén, J. (2023). Making ends meet: Limiting factors for managerial bureaucratization at the University of Helsinki and Stockholm School of Economics in the 2010s. In M. Benner & M. Holmqvist (eds.) Universities under neoliberalism (pp. 110–132). Routledge.
  • Holmén, J., & Ringarp, J. (2023). Public, private, or in between? Institutional isomorphism and the legal entities in Swedish and Finnish higher education. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 9(1), 57–71.
  • Leslie, W. B. (2022). Princeton University: The first 275 years. Arcadia Publishing.
  • Moodie, G. C. & Eustace, R. (1974). Power and authority in British universities. Allen & Unwin.
  • Niskanen, W. A. (1968) The peculiar economics of bureaucracy. The American Economic Review 58(2), 293–305.
  • Niskanen, W. A. (1994). Bureaucracy and public economics. Edward Elgar.
  • Smelser, N. J. (2010). Reflections on the University of California: From the Free Speech Movement to the Global University. University of California Press.
  • Spear, M.E. (1952). Charting statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Studera.nu (n.d.). Meritvärde och urval. [Merit rating and selection]. https://www.studera.nu/sa-kommer-du-in/anmalan-och-antagning/meritvarde-och-urval/
  • Thelin, J. R. (2011). A history of American higher education. JHU Press.
  • Tullock, G. (1987). The politics of bureaucracy. University Press of America.
  • UCAS (n.d.). Undergraduate tuition fees and student loans. https://www.ucas.com/finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans
  • University College London (n.d.a). Academic board membership. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/governance-compliance/sites/governance_compliance/files/ab-membership.pdf
  • University College London (n.d.b). Council: Membership. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/governance-compliance/council/council-membership
  • University of California (2016). Bylaws. https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/governance/bylaws/bl20.html
  • University of Cambridge (n.d.a). The Regent House and the Senate. https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/governance/key-bodies/RH-Senate/Pages/default.aspx
  • University of Cambridge (n.d.b). About the University Council. https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/committees/council/Pages/about.aspx
  • University of Edinburgh (n.d.a). Membership. https://www.ed.ac.uk/general-council/about-the-general-council/membership-and-registration/membership
  • University of Edinburgh (n.d.b). Standing orders of the University Court. https://www.ed.ac.uk/governance-strategic-planning/governance/university-court/standing-orders
  • University of Oxford (n.d.a). Congregation. https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/congregation
  • University of Oxford (n.d.b). Statute VI: Council. https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/legislation/statute-vi-council#collapse1381651
  • Williamson, T. W., E. S. Hughes, and P. L. Head. (2018). An exploration of administrative bloat in American higher education. Planning for Higher Education, 46(2), 15–22.

Revenues, ultimate sovereigns and resource allocation at Finnish, Swedish, UK and US universities

Year 2024, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 52 - 71, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1425682

Abstract

This article explores how the level of funding and the governance model at universities are related to their resource allocation, measured as the balance between faculty and other personnel. Data from 2019 are used to construct scatterplots of the relationship between other personnel per faculty and revenue per faculty in the UK, the US, Sweden, and Finland. The study indicates that the more financial resources a university has, the more the workforce will be dominated by nonfaculty. This is explained by Bowen’s revenue theory of cost: universities raise all the money they can and spend all they raise. Institutions that limits their growth in order to maintain exclusivity are particularly prone to amass large economic resource and attain a high nonfaculty to faculty ratio. However, resource allocation can also be affected by the governance model. Where faculty elect the university board, faculty also comprise a larger share of the personnel. This might be explained by Tullock’s theory of the politics of bureaucracy: middle management is loyal to the ultimate sovereign, which elects the university board, and if this sovereign is the faculty, middle management will allocate resources to what it believes is in the interest of faculty, such as teaching and research. For example, Oxford and Cambridge, where the ultimate sovereign is a large collegial body consisting of almost all teachers and researchers, achieve positions in international university rankings comparable to those of the top US universities at a fraction of the cost.

References

  • Ahlbäck Öberg, S. & Boberg, J, (2023). The decollegialization of higher education institutions in Sweden. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 9(2), 126–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2023.2192317
  • Akademiska hus (2022). Årsredovisning 2022 [Annual report 2022]. https://www.akademiskahus.se/globalassets/dokument/ekonomi/ekonomiska-rapporter/akademiska_hus_arsredovisning_2022_sve.pdf
  • Alleman, N. F., Allen, C. C., & Haviland, D. (2017). Collegiality and the collegium in an era of faculty differentiation: ASHE higher education report. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Anderson, R. (2006). British universities past and present. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Axtell, J. (2006). The making of Princeton University: From Woodrow Wilson to the present. Princeton University Press.
  • Bowen, H. R. (1980). The costs of higher education: How much do colleges and universities spend per student and how much should they spend? Jossey-Bass.
  • Clark, B. R. (1983). The higher education system: Academic organization in cross-national perspective. University of California Press.
  • Clotfelter, C. T. (1996). Buying the best: Cost escalation in elite higher education. Princeton University Press.
  • Comrie, A. C. (2021). Like nobody's business: An insider's guide to how US university finances really work. Open Book Publishers.
  • Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty: The rise of the all-administrative university and why it matters. Oxford University Press.
  • Graeber, D. (2018). Bullshit jobs. Simon & Schuster.
  • Harris, E. E. (2011). University boards and performance. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Temple University.
  • Hofstadter, R., & Metzger, W. P. (1955). The development of academic freedom in the United States. Columbia University Press.
  • Holmén, J. (2022). The autonomy of higher education in Finland and Sweden: Global management trends meet national political culture and governance models. Comparative Education, 58(2), 147–163.
  • Holmén, J. (2023). Making ends meet: Limiting factors for managerial bureaucratization at the University of Helsinki and Stockholm School of Economics in the 2010s. In M. Benner & M. Holmqvist (eds.) Universities under neoliberalism (pp. 110–132). Routledge.
  • Holmén, J., & Ringarp, J. (2023). Public, private, or in between? Institutional isomorphism and the legal entities in Swedish and Finnish higher education. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 9(1), 57–71.
  • Leslie, W. B. (2022). Princeton University: The first 275 years. Arcadia Publishing.
  • Moodie, G. C. & Eustace, R. (1974). Power and authority in British universities. Allen & Unwin.
  • Niskanen, W. A. (1968) The peculiar economics of bureaucracy. The American Economic Review 58(2), 293–305.
  • Niskanen, W. A. (1994). Bureaucracy and public economics. Edward Elgar.
  • Smelser, N. J. (2010). Reflections on the University of California: From the Free Speech Movement to the Global University. University of California Press.
  • Spear, M.E. (1952). Charting statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Studera.nu (n.d.). Meritvärde och urval. [Merit rating and selection]. https://www.studera.nu/sa-kommer-du-in/anmalan-och-antagning/meritvarde-och-urval/
  • Thelin, J. R. (2011). A history of American higher education. JHU Press.
  • Tullock, G. (1987). The politics of bureaucracy. University Press of America.
  • UCAS (n.d.). Undergraduate tuition fees and student loans. https://www.ucas.com/finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans
  • University College London (n.d.a). Academic board membership. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/governance-compliance/sites/governance_compliance/files/ab-membership.pdf
  • University College London (n.d.b). Council: Membership. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/governance-compliance/council/council-membership
  • University of California (2016). Bylaws. https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/governance/bylaws/bl20.html
  • University of Cambridge (n.d.a). The Regent House and the Senate. https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/governance/key-bodies/RH-Senate/Pages/default.aspx
  • University of Cambridge (n.d.b). About the University Council. https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/committees/council/Pages/about.aspx
  • University of Edinburgh (n.d.a). Membership. https://www.ed.ac.uk/general-council/about-the-general-council/membership-and-registration/membership
  • University of Edinburgh (n.d.b). Standing orders of the University Court. https://www.ed.ac.uk/governance-strategic-planning/governance/university-court/standing-orders
  • University of Oxford (n.d.a). Congregation. https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/congregation
  • University of Oxford (n.d.b). Statute VI: Council. https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/legislation/statute-vi-council#collapse1381651
  • Williamson, T. W., E. S. Hughes, and P. L. Head. (2018). An exploration of administrative bloat in American higher education. Planning for Higher Education, 46(2), 15–22.
There are 36 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Higher Education Financing, Higher Education Policies, Higher Education Systems, Higher Education Management
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Janne Holmén 0000-0003-2449-4888

Publication Date June 30, 2024
Submission Date January 25, 2024
Acceptance Date April 28, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024 Volume: 5 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Holmén, J. (2024). Revenues, ultimate sovereigns and resource allocation at Finnish, Swedish, UK and US universities. Higher Education Governance and Policy, 5(1), 52-71. https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1425682