Reputation — A hard-currency medium of interchange

The analyses show both the performance-based validity of institutional reputation and the bias in access to the competitive academic markets due to structural differences of the universities and departments.

Abstract

Within the theoretical framework of reputation as a social medium of interchange in the system of higher education this study analyses the institutional stratification of university departments in the field of economics and business administration. In contrast to the still prevailing normative idea of basic equality between academic institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany the empirical results indicate a stable hierarchy of reputation, very similar to the stratification pattern typical of the US American university system. Structural equation models show that the institutional hierarchy can be predicted with considerable accuracy with indicators of scientific activity and impact and structural characteristics of departments and universities. The analyses show both the performance-based validity of institutional reputation and the bias in access to the competitive academic markets due to structural differences of the universities and departments.