IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v129y2024i9d10.1007_s11192-024-05138-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring the labor market outcomes of universities: evidence from China’s listed company executives

Author

Listed:
  • Pei Chen

    (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)

  • Shan Gao

    (Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Fan Jiang

    (Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Yifang Ma

    (Southern University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Universities are now expected to actively contribute to socio-economic development, extending beyond their customary focus on teaching and research. Traditionally, the impact of universities on the labor market, measured through graduate employment, has been assessed using subjective survey data. This study proposes a quantitative framework that combines occupational mobility data with geographic factors to provide an objective evaluation of university labor market outcomes. Using data from 46,765 executives across 4,627 listed companies in mainland China, we developed a university–company mobility bipartite network. This network is weighted by both the number of executives and the geographic distances they cover. Through structural analysis of the network, we reveal the stratified and highly unequal influence of Chinese universities on the labor market. We also apply a PageRank centrality algorithm to rank universities and further compare them with established university rankings. The results indicated that our rankings highlighted the universities’ geographical influence and outcomes in the labor market. Our framework offers a reliable approach to assessing the societal impact of universities from a labor market perspective, improving and supplementing current university ranking systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Pei Chen & Shan Gao & Fan Jiang & Yifang Ma, 2024. "Measuring the labor market outcomes of universities: evidence from China’s listed company executives," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(9), pages 5715-5730, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:9:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05138-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-024-05138-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-024-05138-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-024-05138-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, 2021. "The Matthew effect impacts science and academic publishing by preferentially amplifying citations, metrics and status," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 5373-5377, June.
    2. Yuandi Wang & Jiashun Huang & Yantai Chen & Xiongfeng Pan & Jin Chen, 2013. "Have Chinese universities embraced their third mission? New insight from a business perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(2), pages 207-222, November.
    3. Weihua Li & Sam Zhang & Zhiming Zheng & Skyler J. Cranmer & Aaron Clauset, 2022. "Untangling the network effects of productivity and prominence among scientists," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Adams, Stephen B., 2003. "Regionalism in Stanford's Contribution to the Rise of Silicon Valley," Enterprise & Society, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 521-543, September.
    5. Murat Perit Çakır & Cengiz Acartürk & Oğuzhan Alaşehir & Canan Çilingir, 2015. "A comparative analysis of global and national university ranking systems," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(3), pages 813-848, June.
    6. Jian Gao & Bogang Jun & Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland & Tao Zhou & César A. Hidalgo, 2021. "Spillovers across industries and regions in China’s regional economic diversification," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1311-1326, July.
    7. Erjia Yan, 2014. "Topic-based Pagerank: toward a topic-level scientific evaluation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 407-437, August.
    8. Liao, Chien Hsiang, 2021. "The Matthew effect and the halo effect in research funding," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    9. Geoff Mason & Gareth Williams & Sue Cranmer, 2009. "Employability skills initiatives in higher education: what effects do they have on graduate labour market outcomes?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-30.
    10. Sai Ding & John Knight, 2011. "Why has China Grown So Fast? The Role of Physical and Human Capital Formation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(2), pages 141-174, April.
    11. Elizabeth Gadd, 2020. "University rankings need a rethink," Nature, Nature, vol. 587(7835), pages 523-523, November.
    12. Migheli, Matteo & Zotti, Roberto, 2020. "The strange case of the Matthew effect and beauty contests: Research evaluation and specialisation in Italian universities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Diana Purwitasari & Chastine Fatichah & Surya Sumpeno & Christian Steglich & Mauridhi Hery Purnomo, 2020. "Identifying collaboration dynamics of bipartite author-topic networks with the influences of interest changes," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1407-1443, March.
    14. Wu, Yujia & Lan, Wei & Fan, Xinyan & Fang, Kuangnan, 2024. "Bipartite network influence analysis of a two-mode network," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 239(2).
    15. Fan Jiang & Nian Cai Liu, 2020. "New wine in old bottles? Examining institutional hierarchy in laureate mobility networks, 1900–2017," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1291-1304, November.
    16. Wang, Jian, 2014. "Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 329-339.
    17. Li, Jianwen & Hu, Jinyan, 2019. "Does university reputation matter? Evidence from peer-to-peer lending," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 66-77.
    18. Gregory Trencher & Masaru Yarime & Kes B. McCormick & Christopher N. H. Doll & Steven B. Kraines, 2014. "Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 151-179.
    19. Zhang, Junsen & Zhao, Yaohui & Park, Albert & Song, Xiaoqing, 2005. "Economic returns to schooling in urban China, 1988 to 2001," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 730-752, December.
    20. Henk F. Moed, 2017. "A critical comparative analysis of five world university rankings," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 967-990, February.
    21. Xue Yang & Xin Gu & Yuandi Wang & Guangyuan Hu & Li Tang, 2015. "The Matthew effect in China’s science: evidence from academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(3), pages 2089-2105, March.
    22. Shih-Pin Chen & Chung-Wei Chang, 2021. "Measuring the efficiency of university departments: an empirical study using data envelopment analysis and cluster analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 5263-5284, June.
    23. Janet Bercovitz & Maryann Feldman, 2006. "Entpreprenerial Universities and Technology Transfer: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Knowledge-Based Economic Development," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 175-188, January.
    24. Walesska Schlesinger & Amparo Cervera-Taulet & Walter Wymer, 2023. "The influence of university brand image, satisfaction, and university identification on alumni WOM intentions," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 1-19, January.
    25. Fabio Saracco & Riccardo Di Clemente & Andrea Gabrielli & Tiziano Squartini, 2015. "Randomizing bipartite networks: the case of the World Trade Web," Papers 1503.05098, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2015.
    26. Compagnucci, Lorenzo & Spigarelli, Francesca, 2020. "The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    27. Mu-Hsuan Huang, 2012. "Opening the black box of QS World University Rankings," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 71-78, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katchanov, Yurij L. & Markova, Yulia V. & Shmatko, Natalia A., 2023. "Empirical demonstration of the Matthew effect in scientific research careers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    2. Dmitry Kochetkov, 2023. "Review of the Russian-language academic literature on university rankings and a global perspective," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Zorica Lazić & Aleksandar Đorđević & Albina Gazizulina, 2021. "Improvement of Quality of Higher Education Institutions as a Basis for Improvement of Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-27, April.
    4. Yang Zhang & Yu Xiao & Jun Wu & Xin Lu, 2021. "Comprehensive world university ranking based on ranking aggregation," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 1139-1152, June.
    5. Massucci, Francesco Alessandro & Docampo, Domingo, 2019. "Measuring the academic reputation through citation networks via PageRank," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 185-201.
    6. Angel Meseguer-Martinez & Alejandro Ros-Galvez & Alfonso Rosa-Garcia & Jose Antonio Catalan-Alarcon, 2019. "Online video impact of world class universities," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(3), pages 519-532, September.
    7. Fernando ALMEIDA, 2018. "Insights And Perspectives From A Literature Review On University Spin-Offs," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(2), pages 27-40, June.
    8. Hacer Tercanli & Ben Jongbloed, 2022. "A Systematic Review of the Literature on Living Labs in Higher Education Institutions: Potentials and Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-27, September.
    9. Annamaria Demarinis Loiotile & Francesco De Nicolò & Adriana Agrimi & Loredana Bellantuono & Marianna La Rocca & Alfonso Monaco & Ester Pantaleo & Sabina Tangaro & Nicola Amoroso & Roberto Bellotti, 2022. "Best Practices in Knowledge Transfer: Insights from Top Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    10. Manuel Muñoz-Suárez & Natividad Guadalajara & José M. Osca, 2020. "A Comparative Analysis between Global University Rankings and Environmental Sustainability of Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Csóka, Imola & Sebestyén, Géza & Neszveda, Gábor, 2019. "Tudományos teljesítmény mérése a magyar felsőoktatás gazdasági képzéseiben [Measuring scientific performance of business and economics faculties in Hungarian higher education]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 751-770.
    12. Ruoying Zhou & Ning Baines, 2024. "To what extent do universities’ formal and informal knowledge exchange activities interact: evidence from UK HE-BCI survey," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1145-1175, August.
    13. Mohammad Reza Zare Banadkouki & Mohammad Ali Vahdatzad & Mohammad Saleh Owlia & Mohammad Mahdi Lotfi, 2018. "Ranking Iranian universities: an interpretative structural modeling approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(3), pages 1493-1512, December.
    14. Vicente Safón, 2019. "Inter-ranking reputational effects: an analysis of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) reputational relationship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 897-915, November.
    15. Antonio Fernández-Cano & Elvira Curiel-Marin & Manuel Torralbo-Rodríguez & Mónica Vallejo-Ruiz, 2018. "Questioning the Shanghai Ranking methodology as a tool for the evaluation of universities: an integrative review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2069-2083, September.
    16. Battaglia, Daniele & Landoni, Paolo & Rizzitelli, Francesco, 2017. "Organizational structures for external growth of University Technology Transfer Offices: An explorative analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 45-56.
    17. Hongbin Li & Mark Rosenzweig & Junsen Zhang, 2010. "Altruism, Favoritism, and Guilt in the Allocation of Family Resources: Sophie's Choice in Mao's Mass Send-Down Movement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(1), pages 1-38, February.
    18. Catalina Martínez & Valerio Sterzi, 2021. "The impact of the abolishment of the professor’s privilege on European university-owned patents," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 247-282, March.
    19. Zhou, Yixiao & Tyers, Rod, 2019. "Automation and inequality in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    20. Hongbin Li & Huan Wang & Claire Cousineau & Matthew Boswell, 2023. "What Can Students Gain from China's Higher Education?," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 18(2), pages 287-304, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:9:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05138-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.