European Universities : Relationships among Age , Dimension and Science Research Quality

This essay examines the expansion and diversification of the European university system in the post-war period. The impact of an enormous dimensional growth and of the rise in society's expectations for economic returns are analyzed. We develop a multivariate cluster analysis to group the data on the total European university population according to dimension and scientific research quality measures. The age of the university was not used as a clustering variable. Four clusters are found, two of them are composed by clearly distinct group of institutions. The first is mainly composed by new (post-war) universities characterized by: a)small dimensions, b) low research output in terms of scientific publications and participations in EU R&D project, and c) low science research quality and low research intensity. The second comprises almost exclusively pre-war universities (in particular medieval institutions) characterized by: a) large dimension, b) high research output, and, compared to the previous cluster, c) higher science research quality. This clustering seems to support the view of a distinction between a small group of dynamic research oriented universities affected by the current changes in the knowledge production process, and a large group of mainly teaching oriented institutions. JEL Classifications: I21, I28, H52, L31, O38.