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Why Can't a College be More Like a Firm?

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  • Gordon C. Winston

Abstract

A sophisticated and widespread intuition is supported by our experience with business firms. And it is confirmed, influenced, and expanded by the formal microeconomic analysis of those firms and their markets. This paper asks if that theory and intuition are helpful for understanding colleges and universities and the higher education “industry.”

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon C. Winston, 1997. "Why Can't a College be More Like a Firm?," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-42, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    • Handle: RePEc:wil:wilehe:42
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    File URL: http://sites.williams.edu/wpehe/files/2011/06/DP-42.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Philip J. Cook & Robert H. Frank, 1993. "The Growing Concentration of Top Students at Elite Schools," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education, pages 121-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Charles T. Clotfelter & Michael Rothschild, 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot93-1.
    3. Estelle James, 1978. "Product Mix and Cost Disaggregation: A Reinterpretation of the Economics of Higher Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 13(2), pages 157-186.
    4. Rothschild, Michael & White, Lawrence J, 1995. "The Analytics of the Pricing of Higher Education and Other Services in Which the Customers Are Inputs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 573-586, June.
    5. Clotfelter, Charles T. & Rothschild, Michael (ed.), 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226110547, July.
    6. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1996. "Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot96-1.
    7. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1996. "Altruism, Nonprofits, and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 701-728, June.
    8. Gordon C. Winston & Yen, I.C., 1995. "Costs, Prices, Subsidies, and Aid in U.S. Higher Education," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-32, Department of Economics, Williams College.
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    Cited by:

    1. Delaney, Jennifer A. & Kearney, Tyler D., 2015. "The impact of guaranteed tuition policies on postsecondary tuition levels: A difference-in-difference approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 80-99.
    2. Guillaume Biot-Paquerot & Jean-Luc Rossignol, 2006. "Performance Management In The Public Sector:," Post-Print hal-00137200, HAL.
    3. Guillaume Biot-Paquerot, 2007. "Efficacité Du Système D'Évaluation Public : Le Cas Des Universités," Post-Print halshs-00543212, HAL.
    4. Kim, Matthew, 2010. "Early decision and financial aid competition among need-blind colleges and universities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(5-6), pages 410-420, June.
    5. Oleg V. Pavlov & Evangelos Katsamakas, 2024. "Tuition too high? Blame competition," Papers 2405.17762, arXiv.org.
    6. Pavlov, Oleg V. & Katsamakas, Evangelos, 2023. "Tuition too high? Blame competition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 409-431.
    7. Andreas Ortmann, 2001. "Capital Romance: Why Wall Street Fell in Love With Higher Education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 293-311.

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