More explicitly than before, universities have become instruments of industrial and economic growth policies. This has led to an increase in accountability regimes and in the application of the so called New Public Management on universities hitherto governed by a Humboldtian, Weberian, or...

This study gives an account of theory, models and measurements of returns to higher education, seen as the results of economically rational investment decisions. The focus is on returns in the form of increased wages and salaries. These returns vary considerably between different countries and...

The rapid globalization in recent years has created a radically new competitive situation for the rich industrialized countries. Newly industrialized countries and not least China have become more and more successful in penetrating the markets in the rich industrialized countries with...

During the past fifteen years, government policy has decentralized post-secondary education in Sweden. We investigate the economic effects of this decentralization policy on the level of innovation and its spatial distribution in the Swedish economy. We rely upon micro data on patent activity...

Human capital theory suggests that higher education, as a means of capability creation and of ability screening, is positively associated with individuals’ success as entrepreneurs. This paper argues that social capital perspectives, in particular the theory of local embeddedness and team...