Irina Abankina, Liudmila Filatova and Elena Nikolayenko
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes in higher education under the new configuration of resources based on the income structure of universities located in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes in higher education under the new configuration of resources based on the income structure of universities located in the Central Federal District (CFD). Particular focus is given to the changes in the structure of public financing of higher education, considering the explicit priorities of increasing teaching staff salaries and promoting research. The study also assesses regional differentiation in financial resources for the maintenance of university property and the accumulation of funds from extra-budgetary sources.
Design/methodology/approach
Using statistical and economic analysis methods, the research reveals the main trends of structural changes in public funding of higher education in Russia as a whole, and the regional peculiarities of financial support in the universities of the CFD.
Findings
The results of this investigation of universities in the CFD point to inertia in the development of universities in the regions, and problems transitioning to new business models. Groups of universities in the region often lobby for the “previous rules of the game.” The results evidence a change in financial support from different income sources and in cost structures at the university level. These are the result of higher education reform and university support programs aimed at enhancing the academic and research capacity of the leading Russian universities and developing a competitive national education system.
Originality/value
A costs optimization policy has led to polarization of universities and reduced development opportunities for a significant proportion of regional universities. In order to maintain their properties in good condition, they have to make active efforts to seek non-budgetary funding sources against a fall in effective demand from the population.
Details
Keywords
Irina Abankina, Tatiana Abankina, Liudmila Filatova, Elena Nikolayenko and Eduard Seroshtan
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the financial optimization process launched by the recent reforms in the Russian higher education sector and its impact on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the financial optimization process launched by the recent reforms in the Russian higher education sector and its impact on access to higher education, its quality and competitiveness within the sector. The study of the economic performance of higher educational institutions includes complex analysis of financial and educational components of their structural dynamics and their impact on their development strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods used in the study of the segmentation of the higher education sector involve a combination of theoretical developments in economics and the modeling of the economic behavior of universities on the market for educational services, procedures for the evaluation of transaction costs in the markets with asymmetric information and recent conceptions of the interrelation of factors affecting quality and accessibility of higher education.
Findings
In this paper, the economic potential of Russian universities is considered, making use of a segmentation of the higher education sector, based on sampling of state and municipal higher education institutions from different industry groups, depending on their development strategy under changing social and economic conditions. The research data for 2006‐2009 help to define five clusters of the higher educational establishments with different approaches towards public funding and different strategies.
Originality/value
Based on the research data, the paper evaluates the current situation in the Russian higher education sector and some skewed structures of the reforms and outlines some policy implications.