Why are US universities so good?
- Shailendra Raj Mehta, MICA
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The excellence of US universities is globally recognised. We argue that this is in a large measure a consequence of their unique form of governance – that is alumni governance.
In particular we will show that universities suffer from the full complement of market failures including externalities, public goods, asymmetric information, adverse selection and moral hazard. Therefore, their organisation is no simple task and is the product of a complex historical process.
We compare five forms of governance prevalent today (market, State, faculty, trusts and alumni) and show why alumni governance strictly dominates them all.
Alumni governance will be shown to be a rational response to these factors that prevent the market from properly operating in the case of universities.
Data on the board composition of over 200 of the top US universities will be presented. We will also touch upon the factors which led to the evolution of this unique historical form.
We will also dwell upon how the rest of the world may learn from this unique form of Governance.
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Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta is currently the President and Director and Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at MICA, in Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he headed Auro University and Ahmedabad University. Before that, he had stints at Duke CE and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (joint appointment), and Purdue University, where he taught Economics and Strategic Management.
He has done extensive research in Entrepreneurship, Industrial Organisation, Information Economics, and Experimental Economics. His research has been the subject of a full-length review by The Economist. His work on creating world-class universities has been discussed around the world and profiled in multiple languages. He is rated as one of the top researchers in the field of strategy in India.
His BA and MA are from Delhi University (St. Stephen’s College and Delhi School of Economics respectively), his MPhil is from Balliol College, Oxford, and his Ph.D. is from Harvard.
