Rankings and global knowledge governance: higher education, innovation and competitiveness

Higher education and innovation policies are today seen as central elements in national economic competitiveness, increasingly measured by global rankings.

This book analyses the evolution of indicator-based global knowledge governance, where various national attributes have been evaluated under international comparative assessment.

Reflecting this general trend, the Shanghai ranking, first published in 2003, has pressured governments and universities all over the world to improve their performance in global competition.

More recently, as global rankings have met criticism for their methodology and scope, measurements of various sizes and shapes have proliferated: some celebrating novel methodological solutions, others breaking new conceptual grounds.