Performance-Based Typology of Universities: Evidence from Russia

Abstract

In recent decades, increased economic pressure and growing societal expectations have led to the introduction of performance-based funding models of public research, namely universities. In this respect, universities have started to use various strategies to adapt and develop their activities under the new framework. National governments are currently attempting to design and apply various taxonomies for structuring university infrastructure in different ways in order to facilitate the development of efficient programmes for the advancement of higher education.

This paper provides a review of different approaches to university typologies, discusses the choice of indicators and mathematical tools for grouping universities using common criteria and evaluating their performance based on classical and modified DEA approaches. The authors develop a typology which was tested in the Russian context, taking into account indicators of research and educational activities implemented by domestic universities and their efficiency score. The typology is based on clustering universities by the availability of resources and research and educational performance and the combination of these results with their efficiency score. It groups universities by type and includes a decision tree for classifying them taking into account their heterogeneity. It serves as a basis for the content analysis of a wide range of universities, and for shaping targeted policies aimed at particular groups.

Keywords: higher education institutions (HEIs), typology, research and educational activities of HEIs, hierarchical clustering, data envelopment analysis, efficiency, performance.

JEL Classification: C14, C38, D83, O32