The research productivity of universities. A multilevel and multidisciplinary analysis on European institutions

The paper makes use of a novel dataset at European level which includes data on academicstaff and students of universities from official National Statistical Authorities, bibliometricindicators on publications, and socio-economic indicators at regional level. The dataset cov-ers all European countries. The unit of analysis is a combination between teaching activitiesat the level of Field of Education and publications classified by Field of Science, resulting infive major integrated areas of STEM (Science; Engineering; Computer Science; Agriculture;Medicine). Using a multilevel modeling framework and comparing results across disci-plinary areas the paper finds strong support for peer effects at institutional level and forthe positive effect of international collaborations and attraction of foreign PhD students. Itdoes not find support for economies of scale in research, institutional age, specializationeffects and private vs private governance. The external regional environment has an impacton research productivity only in applied disciplines