An empirical note on university rankings

Kang Hua Cao; Chi-Keung Woo; Yi Shi

doi:10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222

An empirical note on university rankings

Kang Hua Cao^*, Chi-Keung Woo, Yi Shi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

Abstract

This note explores the empirics of the world’s top 100 universities based on their arithmetic averages of individual rankings published by five ranking agencies in 2022. It finds disparity in each university’s individual rankings. Further, the extent of disparity is greater for lower-ranking universities, enabling strategic announcements of their global standings. Hence, we urge caution when interpreting the ranking announcement posed on a university’s website.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-4
Number of pages	4
Journal	Applied Economics Letters
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 6 Aug 2023

Scopus Subject Areas

Economics and Econometrics

User-Defined Keywords

Top 100 universities
ranking agreement
ranking disparity
university rankings

Access to Document

10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222

Cite this

@article{0b03eee3acf74924bb253fe9c124f6b9,

title = "An empirical note on university rankings",

abstract = "This note explores the empirics of the world{\textquoteright}s top 100 universities based on their arithmetic averages of individual rankings published by five ranking agencies in 2022. It finds disparity in each university{\textquoteright}s individual rankings. Further, the extent of disparity is greater for lower-ranking universities, enabling strategic announcements of their global standings. Hence, we urge caution when interpreting the ranking announcement posed on a university{\textquoteright}s website.",

keywords = "Top 100 universities, ranking agreement, ranking disparity, university rankings",

author = "Cao, {Kang Hua} and Chi-Keung Woo and Yi Shi",

note = "Funding Information: C.K. Woo{\textquoteright}s research is funded by a grant from the Department of Asian and Policy Studies of the Education University of Hong Kong. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "6",

doi = "10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222",

language = "English",

pages = "1--4",

journal = "Applied Economics Letters",

issn = "1350-4851",

publisher = "Routledge",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - An empirical note on university rankings

AU - Cao, Kang Hua

AU - Woo, Chi-Keung

AU - Shi, Yi

N1 - Funding Information: C.K. Woo’s research is funded by a grant from the Department of Asian and Policy Studies of the Education University of Hong Kong. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2023/8/6

Y1 - 2023/8/6

N2 - This note explores the empirics of the world’s top 100 universities based on their arithmetic averages of individual rankings published by five ranking agencies in 2022. It finds disparity in each university’s individual rankings. Further, the extent of disparity is greater for lower-ranking universities, enabling strategic announcements of their global standings. Hence, we urge caution when interpreting the ranking announcement posed on a university’s website.

AB - This note explores the empirics of the world’s top 100 universities based on their arithmetic averages of individual rankings published by five ranking agencies in 2022. It finds disparity in each university’s individual rankings. Further, the extent of disparity is greater for lower-ranking universities, enabling strategic announcements of their global standings. Hence, we urge caution when interpreting the ranking announcement posed on a university’s website.

KW - Top 100 universities

KW - ranking agreement

KW - ranking disparity

KW - university rankings

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167342055&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222

DO - 10.1080/13504851.2023.2244222

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1350-4851

SP - 1

EP - 4

JO - Applied Economics Letters

JF - Applied Economics Letters

ER -

An empirical note on university rankings

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this