Vol. 3 No. 1 (2018): Working Papers in Higher Education Studies (predecessor of JRIHE) 2018
Articles

Exploring principal-agent theory in higher education research

PDF
  • Addisalem Yallew,
  • Henna Juusola,
  • Ijaz Ahmad,
  • Sari Törmälä
Addisalem Yallew
Carnegie Foundation doctoral fellow in Higher Education Studies, Institute of Post-School Studies, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Bio
Henna Juusola
PhD candidate at the Faculty of Management (Higher Education Group), University of Tampere, Finland
Bio
Ijaz Ahmad
Director of the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, Pakistan
Bio
Sari Törmälä
Project Advisor at Tampere University of Technology's research services, Tampere, Finland
Bio

Published 2018-12-30

Keywords

  • principal-agent theory,
  • agency theory,
  • principal-agent model,
  • agency problem,
  • higher education

How to Cite

Yallew, A., Juusola, H., Ahmad, I., & Törmälä, S. (2018). Exploring principal-agent theory in higher education research. Journal of Research and Innovation in Higher Education, 3(1), 78–98. Retrieved from https://rihe-journal.com/index.php/rihe/article/view/27
Copyright Notice

Abstract

In this paper, we explore principal-agent theory and its’ application in higher education research by conducting Fink’s (2010) systematic literature review module. Data of this review consist of 14 articles from scientific journals in higher education research published between 2005 and 2016. After a systematic selection of the articles, descriptive synthesis is made. The findings of this review indicate that the principal-agent theory has been mainly used for topics related to system policy or institutional management. On the other hand, the theory was not applied to topics related to course design, student experiences or academic work. The analysis also indicates that principal-agent theory has not been widely used in higher education studies. This, as some of the researchers pointed out, might be due to the complexity of principal-agent relations in higher education institutions, besides behavior-based and outcome-based agency relations seem to be difficult to implement in higher education institutions.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.