Surviving the Deanship: Difference Between Internal and External Hires in Turnover at Business Schools

Abstract

I examine whether internally promoted deans of business schools experience longer tenures than externally hired deans. Using data on 73 large, public higher education institutions, I document leadership histories and distinguish internal from external hires. Survival analysis and regression approaches consistently show that internal hires have substantially longer tenures. Internally promoted deans are approximately 30% less likely to exit in any given year and serve roughly 1.3 additional years on average. Further, the longevity advantage of internal hires is concentrated in un-named business schools.

Keywords: business school, dean, internal promotion, survival model, turnover

JEL Classification: J63, I23