EBPM in University Reform Policy: How to analyse the effects of reform promotion programs

Abstract

Recent university reform policies, such as the University for International Research Excellence and the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities with a Regional Core and Distinctive Characteristics, aim to allocate large amounts of funds to some universities on the condition that they formulate strategies for university reform and thereby develop the research capacity of the country as a whole. However university reform policies have not been sufficiently evaluated in terms of how effective the programs are at the national level, although project evaluations of selected universities have been conducted. This paper examines the framework for evaluation and monitoring of programs for regional research universities as a case study. After pointing out the need to clarify the logic by which allocating funds to a small number of universities can lead to structural changes in the national research and innovation system and have an impact on the country as a whole, the paper examines the challenge of evaluation for each of the following types of univesities: research-intensive universities with networks of excellence, entrepreneurial universities in a glocal innovation ecosystem, transformative universities in local transformative innovation.