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In M&A markets, acquirers face a hold-up problem of losing the value of investments they make in due diligence, negotiations, and post-acquisition planning if targets would pursue the options of waiting for better offers or selling to an alternative bidder. This chapter extends information economics to the literature on M&A contracting by arguing that such contracting problems are more likely to occur for targets with better outside options created by the information available on their resources and prospects. We also argue that acquirers address these contracting problems by using termination payment provisions to safeguard their investments. While previous research in corporate strategy and finance has suggested that certain factors can facilitate an acquisition by reducing a focal acquirer’s risk of adverse selection (e.g., signals, certifications), we note that these same factors can make the target attractive to other potential bidders and can exacerbate the risk of hold-up, thereby leading acquirers to use termination payment provisions as contractual safeguards.

Leadership in higher education has become of increasing importance as the size of the enterprise has grown, and this has naturally led to a growing research interest in the topic. Using systematic review methods, this chapter interrogates and synthesises the research literature on leadership in higher education in terms of its meanings, application and practice, and the issues and critiques raised. It concludes that research into leadership in higher education has been both extensive and global in nature, identifying a variety of understandings, practices and approaches adopted, and the continuing dominance of white men in senior leadership positions. There is clearly scope for more research on this topic, which could both emphasise different issues and give greater recognition to the particular nature of higher education and higher education institutions.

This chapter considers the reasons for appointing external leaders to higher education institutions, and how to support and retain them. Outsiders can bring a particular set of skills that can be valuable to modern higher education institutions and which are complementary to the skillsets of ‘expert’ academic leaders. The success of injecting ‘otherness’ into institutions is an active and ongoing process if the benefits sought after are to be realised. Three scenarios are given particular attention: being recruited from a different sector; being recruited to a higher education institution in another country and arriving in the sector having followed a very different career path. For each scenario, factors are identified that can enable a positive impact and contribution. Some of the unintentional and unforeseen barriers that can hamper such leaders having the desired impact are also identified.

Arguably democracy and globalization are among the most debated topics in contemporary scientific, political and cultural circles. Indeed, for some optimistic observers, these two phenomena are end points. Globalization is a process that generates economic prosperity and provides fresh opportunities for the emancipation of selves. Democracy is a product of previous phases of the evolution of society, but it has reached its most advanced form in this post-Fordist, post-cold war, global society (e.g. Friedman, 2000; Fukuyama, 1992). For critical thinkers, however, the growth of globalization problematizes the existence and practice of democracy. In an interesting convergence of opinions, this latter group includes radical conservative and progressive theorists alike. Radical Conservatives have argued that globalization engenders a crisis of democracy and that this situation is to be addressed through a retreat to the local and the ethnic. This new tribalism (Antonio, 2000; de Benoist, 1995) features attacks against the “move to the center” (the Clinton-Blair centralism) of many historically leftist and progressive liberal groups. The critics contend that the mainstream parties have converged and that neither the conventional left or right offer alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal approach, crisis-ridden post World War II idea of socio-economic development, or the erosion of sovereignty entailed by globalization. In this regard, the radical right proposes the replacement of “demos” with “ethnos” as the key organizational concept for contemporary society.

This chapter provides a review of existing research on learning gain and related topics in higher education. The methodology adopted is a form of systematic review. The origins and meaning of learning gain, and its relation to similar terms, are discussed. The ways in which learning gain has been applied in practice and in research are considered. The issues raised by this practice and research are examined, and the various criticisms made are reviewed. Some conclusions are then drawn.

The immediate financial and operational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education have resulted in short-term responses focused on reducing costs. This has included decreasing the size of the permanent workforce, pausing senior executive pay and replacing face-to-face with online teaching. The impact of these changes on employees who provide education, research and student support has been significant. To enable higher education to respond effectively to future complexity requires a more strategic approach designed to build employees commitment. The extent of change requires a move away from the current control-oriented, individualist and hierarchical administrative management approach that characterises higher education, towards a more collaborative leadership approach. Based on a case study of Australian higher education, the chapter unpacks how, in combination, the elements of an ecological view of leadership, actioned through multiple double-loop feedback based on the six tenets of a distributed leadership approach, can underpin a collaborative leadership approach designed to build employee commitment.

This paper analyzes the age pay gap in Italy (22%), particularly as it is of interest in an aging society and as it may affect social cohesion. Instead of the traditional approach for model selection, we use a machine-learning approach (post double robust Least Absolute Shrinkage Operator [LASSO]). This approach allows us to reduce Omitted Variable Bias (OVB), given data restrictions, and to obtain a robust estimate of the conditional age pay gap. We then decompose the conditional gap and analyze the impact of four further potential sources of heterogeneity (workers', sectors', and occupations' permanent heterogeneity as well as sample selection bias). The results suggest that age discrimination in pay is only perceived but not real in Italy for both men and women.