This paper evaluates economies of scale and scope, and the merger effect among national universities in Japan. We apply SUR for the total translog cost function in FY2014 and FY2018. The main results are: (i) there exist economies of scale as a whole university; (ii) but there exist no clear economies of scope except for in research; (iii) there…

As in many industrialized countries, Japan carried out a deregulation of higher education around the turn of the 21st century. This reform was based on New Public Management (NPM) principles, which should have been reflected in its most salient step: the incorporation of national universities in 2004. Although the way that the NPM principles were…

Working toward internationalization of an educational unit involves planning, partnership, and consistent formative evaluation. This article highlights the development of a strategic partnership, that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, between the academic departments of comprehensive psychology in a university in Japan and social work in a…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the technical efficiency of Japanese national universities over the period 2010-2016. In addition, the authors also sought to identify the determinants of efficiency, especially those amenable to public policy intervention. Design/methodology/approach: First, the authors ran a global intertemporal…

The topic of governance is much discussed in the higher education literature. Corruption is less discussed, and mostly in general and cautionary terms. Yet there are important relations between the two. The current article critically examines the literature on governance in higher education and underlines the relationship to forms of corruption in…

This study examines international brain race for world-class universities as measured by the QS World University Rankings (QS) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities, particularly in the context of Asian nations' institutional competition and benchmarking against American counterparts. Applying mixed methods with statistical analysis of…

This study analyzes and discusses how competition-based funding has been institutionalized in the three North East Asian countries of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan since the neoliberal reforms in the 1990s. We found that states set aside additional, 'competition-based' funding for distribution among higher education institutions. In addition, private…

On average in OECD countries, private sources account for a significant share of investment in tertiary educational institutions. Private expenditure on tertiary educational institutions increased faster than public expenditure between 2010 and 2016 on average across OECD countries, although this varies from country to country. Participation in…

This article discusses how Centres of Excellence (CoE) and the existence of several logics in these centres can contribute to the differentiation of the strategic profiles of universities. The study sees research centres as a way to organize research activities in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to target both excellence but also…

There is a growing consensus in political science research that higher education systems are classifiable into stable distinct types that reflect dominant trends in government partisanship. There is also a large body of higher education research that argues that higher education systems are changing and converging upon a neoliberal type, which is…

This study explored challenges of international collaborations in Japanese higher education by identifying management frameworks and elements necessary to run effective programs. Internationalization was examined from three perspectives: collaboration between a university's headquarters and its departments, program management, and quality…

The objective of this research was to understand the current situation and challenges associated with the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs at Japanese universities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing a conceptual framework and ideas of 'enablers' and 'blockers' of IoC, we…

Module A of the OECD Higher Education Policy Survey (HEPS) 2022 elicited information on policies to promote digitalisation of higher education in OECD member and accession countries. In total, 30 jurisdictions responded, providing comparative information on various areas of digitalisation policy, from regulation and governance to financial and…

Universities receive a great deal of attention by governments due to its vast importance in development and economy. Productive type of universities are the most affective in this regard as they are producers of income, research, patents, intellectual activities, and good graduates. No wonder, they are always ranked highly among international…

This brochure focuses on a selection of indicators from "Education at a Glance," selected for their particular relevance in the current context. Their analysis enables the understanding of countries' response and potential impact from the COVID-19 containment measures. The following topics are discussed: (1) the impact of the crisis on…