Open AccessThe Ownership, Governance and Accountability of Tertiary Institutions in New Zealand
Author(s) -
Jonathan Boston
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
new zealand annual review of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1178-3311
pISSN - 1171-3283
DOI - 10.26686/nzaroe.v0i6.1130
Subject(s) - corporate governance , accountability , government (linguistics) , incentive , public administration , higher education , power (physics) , business , subject (documents) , public interest , accounting , political science , economics , economic growth , market economy , finance , law , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , library science , computer science
Significant changes have been made since the late 1980s to the funding, governance, and accountability of New Zealand’s public tertiary education institutions (TEIs). The new governance framework, which was introduced by the fourth Labour government in 1990, has been the subject of numerous criticisms. According to the government’s departmental advisers on tertiary education, the new regime exposes the Crown to significant ownership risks, provides insufficient incentives for sound financial management, gives too much power to vested interests, unduly limits the government’s capacity to intervene in the wider public interest, and leaves TEIs insufficiently accountable for their use of public resources. This article examines the merits of these criticisms, and assesses the various proposals for reform.