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Current Research

How should universities design tenure?

 

The institution of tenure for university faculty is under attack, and suggestions for reform range from limiting its term and   requiring periodic reviews to outright abolition.   Antipathy towards tenure is probably bound up with the view that professors have a degree of job security that appears "unreasonable" in today's marketplace.   The public does not doubt that tenure is important to preserve academic freedom, but why must the term of the employment contract be for life rather than a fixed duration?   Why must those denied tenure be dismissed rather than have their employment continue under different contractual arrangements?   Questions such as the features of the tenure contract, rather than justification for tenure per se,   have been little studied.   This paper addresses the design principles implied in Canadian   tenure practices in the context of the signaling/screening problem resulting from asymmetric and incomplete information.   Insights from game theory and contract design are used   to examine such tenure practices as the lack of open try outs, pre-determined time limits, the up or out rule, and the length of tenure.

Status: Working manuscript available

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