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Do university mergers create academic synergy? Evidence from China and the Nordic Countries

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  • Liu, Qiaochu
  • Patton, Donald
  • Kenney, Martin

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, mergers have been pursued by a large number of national university systems. The mergers have been justified as a way of increasing research performance. This paper examines the impact of mergers on one vital measure of university research performance, the production of publications, for 29 Chinese university mergers and 8 Nordic university mergers. Using Web of Science counts of research articles before and after a merger while controlling for the university inputs of R&D funding and research personnel, it was found that Chinese universities exhibited a small but significant increase in the rate of growth of articles following a merger. The Nordic performance was less clear cut. Our findings support the belief that mergers of similarly sized institutions usually have little impact on research performance. In contrast, mergers between a large comprehensive university and much smaller universities have a positive impact on overall publications. We also show that cases in which the merger was between a comprehensive university and a medical school resulted in significantly improved performance in terms of scholarly publications. We attribute the improvement to synergies between the basic biological research in the comprehensive university and the more practical research undertaken in medical schools. We conclude with suggestions for policy-makers aiming to create synergies through mergers.

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  • Liu, Qiaochu & Patton, Donald & Kenney, Martin, 2018. "Do university mergers create academic synergy? Evidence from China and the Nordic Countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 98-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:47:y:2018:i:1:p:98-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2017.10.001
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    2. Török, Ádám & Nagy, Andrea Magda, 2021. "A "nagy ugrás" a felsőoktatásban - Kína a nemzetközi verseny élmezőnyében? [The big leap" in higher education - Has China moved into the lead?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 375-398.
    3. Chu, Shuai & Wu, Mengfei, 2021. "Does the geographic clustering of universities promote their scientific research performance? Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 963, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Kang, Yankun & Liu, Ruiming, 2021. "Does the merger of universities promote their scientific research performance? Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    5. Hana BOR & Avraham KETKO, 2019. "A University Reinvents Itself: A Case Study For Understanding Strategic Mergers And Integration Between Academic Institutions," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 20(3), pages 241-258, July.

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