Review by Choice Review
Until the 1960s, the economics of American colleges and universities was a sorely neglected topic. This book, written by two economists at Williams College and one at the University of Southern California, is a valuable addition to this still relatively untilled field. It is divided into five parts: background; productivity and organization; student finance; institutional finance; and a conclusion. The second, third, and fourth sections contain most of the book's analytical material. Throughout, the authors emphasize that higher education is different from other industries in a number of ways, especially in that it is very difficult to conceptualize and measure colleges and universities' "outputs." Chapter 5, on the economics of faculty tenure, is especially useful. It concludes that tenure, often maligned as expensive and economically impractical, is actually quite defensible on economic grounds. The authors write clearly and in relatively nontechnical language throughout. The book's tables and figures are, with some exceptions, accessible to the reader who is not an economist. Seven of the fourteen chapters were originally published elsewhere. Recommended for upper-level undergraduates and up, and administrators. D. S. Webster; Oklahoma State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
