States, demographics and competitiveness of America's best universities
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the US News and World Report's competitive ratings of US universities with various state level demographic variables using cross‐sectional data.Design/methodology/approach – Secondary data for the study were collected from the US News and World Report, Demographics USA, other US statistical sources. Regression and correlation analysis determined the relationships.Findings – Findings indicate that the competitive rating of the US News and World Report universities can be explained by the Buying Power Index (BPI) of the state in which the university is located, per capita federal transfer payments in education, and proportion of out‐of‐state students. International students and ethnic enrollment also show some relationship with competitive rating. Diversity adds to competitiveness. The ratings of the universities are related to the BPI of the state and per capita federal transfer, both of which are uncontrollable variables for th...
Reaching for the Brass Ring: The U.S. News & World Report Rankings and Competition
The annual U.S News & World Report ranking of the nation's academic institutions exacerbates their competitiveness. Institutions, trying to influence the rankings, alter their behavior in ways that misserve individual students and higher education as a whole. However, institutions should not use the rankings as an excuse for failing to collaborate in ways that make sense both educationally and financially. The paper suggests how USNWR rankings could encourage such collaborations.
Corporations and the Market for Law
The state competition for corporate law has long been studied as a distinct phenomenon. Under the traditional view, corporations are subject to a unique choice-of-law rule, the internal affairs doctrine (IAD). This rule is explained as a historical accident, or by the special logistics of the corporate contract. The resulting market for corporate law appears to have special characteristics, particularly including the dominance by the single state of Delaware. This paper challenges the traditional view. It shows that the corporate law market is best understood as a special application of the general market for law. Any differences are matters of degree rather than kind, and are explained by considerations underlying enforcement of all choice-of-law contracts rather than by factors unique to corporations. It follows that theories of corporate competition that ignore the broader law market context are incomplete, and that the competition for corporate law carries lessons for the law market generally. Moreover, the connection between the corporate and other law markets has implications for the nature of corporate law, the constitutional status of the IAD, the scope of the IAD, and for the relationship between state and federal law.