Despite the fact that universities are at the centre of knowledge creation and development, which itself is seen as one of the main engines of economic growth, public funding of higher education in most countries is not increasing or at least not increasing enough in real terms. This volume explores new funding schemes and incentives introduced in many European higher education systems, including competitive funding schemes for research under the name of "excellence" policies.

CONTENTS ; Part I. Funding: Pressures, Reforms, and Analytical Foundations ; Chapter 1 ; Public Accountability Reforms and Higher Education ; Paola Mattei ; Chapter 2 ; Dynamics of Convergence and Divergence. ; Exploring Accounts of Higher Education Policy Change ; Peter Maassen and Ase Gornitzka ; Chapter 3 ; Global pressures and national cultures: a Nordic University template? ; Tom Christensen, Ase Gornitzka, Peter Maassen ; Chapter 4 ; Financially Sustainable Universities: Challenges and Strategies in Times of Austerity ; Thomas Estermann and Enora Pruvot ; Chapter 5 ; Reforming Under Pressure. Higher Education Reforms in France (2006-2010) ; Corine Eyraud ; Part II. Internationalisation and Europeanization ; Chapter 6 ; The Value of Temporary Study Abroad: The ERASMUS Experience ; Ulrich Teichler ; Chapter 7 ; Europeanization and Higher Education: Comfortable Bedfellows? ; Jeroen Huisman ; Chapter 8 ; University Rankings: The Manifestation and Driver of Competition for Excellence ; Within the New Higher Education Landscape ; Jan Sadlak ; Part III. Massification of Higher Education: Strategies of Equality or Privatisation? ; Chapter 9 ; Privatisation of Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe ; Jadwiga Koralewicz ; Chapter 10 ; Class and Ethnic Inequality in Educational Outcomes in an International Perspective ; Jan O. Jonsson ; Bibliography ; Index