Publication

This paper analyzes higher education policy reform in OECD countries. It develops a formal model of the politics of higher education reform, noting the existence of a "trilemma" between mass enrolment, full public subsidization, and total public spending on higher education. Propositions on this trade-off and on the impact of partisanship on reform are tested statistically on a sample of OECD studies and through case histories of higher education reform in Britain, Sweden, and Germany.