Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Tirivayi J.N. 
Author-Name: Maasen van den Brink H. 
Author-Name: Groot W.N.J. 
Author-workplace-name: UNU-MERIT
Title: Size and economies of scale in higher education and the implications for mergers
Abstract: This paper carries out a meta regression analysis to estimate the  optimal size of higher education institutions HEI and identify its  implications for strategies of mergers in higher education. This study  finds an optimal institutional size of 24,954 students. We find  potential opportunities for merging different HEIs relative to their  mean sample size public universities by nearly 190 per cent, private  universities by 131 per cent, small colleges by around 952 per cent, and  non-US HEIs by about 118 per cent. However, if we compare with actual  sizes of top ranked universities we find that in some parts of the world  top ranked universities seem to be below optimal size, while in others  they appear above optimal size. We urge caution in the interpretation of  the findings due to the limited data. We recommend further research and  that policymakers around the world refer to their own cost structures to  determine the optimal size for efficiency.
Keywords: Analysis of Education; Educational Finance; Higher Education and Research Institutions; 
Classification-JEL: I23; I21; I22; .
Series:  Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2014
Number: 066
File-URL: http://pub.maastrichtuniversity.nl/1575dfdb-9a37-45f7-92fd-38874a616719
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 308607
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2014066