Author: David Castillo Merino
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: Catalan
Supervisor: Dr Jordi Vilaseca Requena
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Subjects: Forms of Organization and Cooperation in the Economy, Education and Teaching Operations and Management, Higher Education, Universities
Key words: Cost models, Economic efficiency, Organizational change, e-learning, University, Information and communication technologies
Area of knowledge: Investment, Technical Change and Organizational Structure in Universities, Economic and Accounting Analysis
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Summary
This research work studies the process of transformation of universities in OECD countries over the last two decades, specifically the parameters of their evolution towards the concept of a network university and their interaction with the adoption and dissemination of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in university teaching and administration.
Within this framework, we determine the investment models of a sample of online universities, defined as universities that provide their teaching through e-learning systems, and analyse the relationship between ICT and economic efficiency, demonstrating the following principal hypothesis: the complementary effect of investment in ICT and methodological and organizational innovation are the decisive factors of the technical and subject efficiency of this type of university; in addition, these investment models explain the need to adapt the costs systems traditionally implemented in the university sector to a new cost structure.