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Mergers and acquisitions and educational quality of higher education institutions

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Abstract

As interest increases in the educational quality of higher education institutions (HEIs), less is known about how the mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of these HEIs affect educational quality. In this study, we investigate the association of M&As on the educational quality of HEIs and the role of institutional incentives in this relation. We argue that M&As in HEIs can positively affect the educational quality of these institutions, although this relationship is substantially sensitive and moderated by institutional incentives. Ultimately, M&As can negatively influence educational quality if the incentives do not encourage HEIs to improve and maintain high standards in educational quality continuously. We empirically examine our theoretical framework using a longitudinal dataset on a fixed-effects model from 2007 to 2015 with M&As of Brazilian HEIs, and the results consistently support our arguments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their many constructive comments and suggestions during the revision process, which greatly contributed to improving the paper. The usual disclaimer applies, and all errors are ours.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Administration, FGV: Fundação Getulio Vargas (EBAPE), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Jaison Caetano da Silva

  2. School of Business, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Itajaí, Brazil

    Edson Andrade dos Reis, Rosilene Marcon & Jeferson Lana

  3. Business Administration, University Alto Vale do Rio do Peixe (UNIARP), Caçador, Brazil

    Edson Andrade dos Reis

  4. Department of Innovation Management & Strategy, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

    Cinara Gambirage

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  1. Jaison Caetano da Silva
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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 8

Table 8 Regression results - direct and moderated effects
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Appendix 2

Table 9

Table 9 Regression results - direct and moderated effects
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da Silva, J.C., dos Reis, E.A., Marcon, R. et al. Mergers and acquisitions and educational quality of higher education institutions. Tert Educ Manag 30, 17–44 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-023-09132-z

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