The financial impact of policy reform on the Australian university sector 1988-2019

The 1988 Dawkins reforms were designed, at least in part, to encourage public universities to organize themselves as if they were corporate enterprises, in order to create a more efficient and competitive sector that was less reliant on government funding. This paper assesses whether successive poli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education 2023-11, Vol.86 (5), p.1233-1267
Main Author: Ingram, Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annual reports
Australia
Changes
College Administration
Colleges & universities
Competition
Competitiveness
COVID-19
Dawkins (J)
Economic aspects
Education
Education and state
Education policy
Education reform
Educational Change
Educational finance
Educational Policy
Educational reform
Efficiency
Expenditures
Federal Aid
Financial analysis
Financial management
Financial performance
Financial Support
Foreign Countries
Funding
Governmental reform
Higher Education
Laws, regulations and rules
Markets
Objectives
Pandemics
Performance management
Policy Analysis
Policy implementation
Policy making
Private sector
Reforms
State Universities
Strategic planning
Universities
Universities and colleges
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Summary:The 1988 Dawkins reforms were designed, at least in part, to encourage public universities to organize themselves as if they were corporate enterprises, in order to create a more efficient and competitive sector that was less reliant on government funding. This paper assesses whether successive policy changes since the 1988 Dawkins reforms have achieved these efficiency, competition, and funding objectives. It does so by examining their financial performance over time, applying the techniques employed by investment analysts in the private sector to assess the performance of market participants. It demonstrates that the policy changes have reduced efficiency and competitiveness, and weakened the financial position of a number of universities. It provides empirical support for previous research highlighting the significant structural and regulatory constraints on the creation of a competitive market in higher education. Furthermore, it demonstrates that 35 years of policy change have merely reinforced pre-existing market positions and that, even before the impact of the COVID pandemic is considered, the financial position of the sector has been weakened as a result of the changes. [Author abstract]
ISSN:0018-1560
1573-174X
DOI:10.1007/s10734-022-00970-1