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Why tenure?

Author

Listed:
  • Cater, Bruce
  • Lew, Byron
  • Pivato, Marcus

Abstract

Academic research is a public good whose production is supported by the tuition-paying students that a faculty's research accomplishments attract. A professor's spot contribution to the university's revenues thus depends not on her spot research production, but rather on her cumulative research record. We show that a profit-maximizing university will apply a `high' minimum retention standard to the production of a junior professor who has no record of past research, but a `zero' retention standard to the spot production of a more senior professor whose background includes accomplishments sufficient to have cleared the `high' probationary hurdle.

Suggested Citation

  • Cater, Bruce & Lew, Byron & Pivato, Marcus, 2009. "Why tenure?," MPRA Paper 14823, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14823
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14823/1/MPRA_paper_14823.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    academic tenure; labour contract; up-or-out;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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