nep-sog 2010-10-16 papers

on Sociology of Economics

Issue of 2010‒10‒16
one paper chosen by
Jonas Holmström
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration

Withering academia? By Bruno S. Frey

By:	Bruno S. Frey
Abstract:	Strong forces lead to a withering of academia as it exists today. The major causal forces are the rankings mania, increased division of labor in research, intense publication pressure, academic fraud, dilution of the concept of “university,” and inadequate organizational forms for modern research. Academia, in a broader sense understood as “the locus of seeking truth and learning through methodological inquiry,” will subsist in different forms. The conclusion is therefore pessimistic with respect to the academic system as it presently exists but not to scholarly endeavour as such. However, the transformation predicted is expected to be fundamental.
Keywords:	Academia, universities, research, rankings, publications, fraud
JEL:	A1 I23 L30 Z0
Date:	2010–10
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:512&r=sog

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