RANKINGS, PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT, AND MODES OF EVALUATION: A FIELD STUDY OF CHINESE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR

This thesis examines the operationalisation of performance measurement systems (PMS) in Chinese public universities and their impacts on academics, the research community, and the universities involved. Over the past several decades, public sector organisations (PSOs) have been subjected to considerable new public management (NPM) reforms. Although a number of studies have examined the use and the socio-political implications of calculative and quantification practices in the context of public HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) (Agyemang & Broadbent, 2015; Boitier & Rivière, 2013; Broadbent et al., 2010; Pop-Vasileva et al., 2011), overall, the number is small. This is especially the case compared to the general literature on performance measurement and public management from emerging economies. It is in this context that this project was conducted.