Publication

This paper postulates a life cycle model of university entrepreneurialism at the national level. The authors identify two fundamental sources of such entrepreneurialism: First, public-private hybrid forms in organization and finance; and second, decentralization which encourages competition and differentiation. When national university systems grow and exhibit signs of demand overload, political pressures for homogenization increase, the authors hypothesize. This weakens both sources of entrepreneurialism and leads to decline. The paper also derives implications for the ascendant Chinese university system.