Tiers of engagement by universities in their region's development

This paper identifies structural, institutional and social factors that interact to shape the participation of mostly European universities in their region's development. The interactions of these factors can foster or hinder the contributions of universities to their region's development. These factors include regionalization of the higher education system, regional identity and networks, type of region and university. Of particular importance at the university level are competition and hierarchy effects between universities in a region. The existence and level of these effects are used to generate four categories of tiers of engagement by universities in their region's development.