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The Downside Risk of Elevation

Author

Listed:
  • Kerstin Bruckmeier
  • Georg-Benedikt Fischer
  • Berthold U. Wigger

Abstract

Being granted a title enhances the status of the awardee while its loss has an opposite effect. The present article examines whether the latter effect dominates the former in the sense that elevation is less status-enhancing than relegation is status-damaging. Thereto, we use the three consecutive rounds of the German Excellence Initiative (a publicly funded program to promote outstanding research at German universities) as a natural experiment. We provide evidence that the loss of the title as a so-called “elite university” had a negative effect on the number of first year students. In contrast, we find no evidence for a positive effect on the number of first year students when a university is granted the title.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerstin Bruckmeier & Georg-Benedikt Fischer & Berthold U. Wigger, 2014. "The Downside Risk of Elevation," CESifo Working Paper Series 4950, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4950
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fischer, Georg-Benedikt & Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Wigger, Berthold U., 2013. "Does distance matter? Tuition Fees and Enrollment of First-Year Students at German Public Universities," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79813, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Spiess, C. Katharina & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2010. "Does distance determine who attends a university in Germany?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 470-479, June.
    4. Kane, Thomas J, 1994. "College Entry by Blacks since 1970: The Role of College Costs, Family Background, and the Returns to Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 878-911, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    reputation effect; excellence initiative; enrolment numbers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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