The many guises of nordic higher education mergers

Abstract

In this final chapter, the volume’s editors reflect upon the empirical and theoretical contributions from the book. The chapter is structured according to a number of ‘dimensions’ which have appeared in the previous chapters. It is concluded that the historical contexts and path dependencies play crucial roles also in the case of mergers. Furthermore, the importance of key actors is highlighted, not least the role played by formal top leaders, but also informal brokers and change agents at the institutional level. In terms of future research, two lines of inquiry are identified. The first is to delve deeper into process-related issues, which is still an unexplored aspect of mergers, and the second is to undertake more comparative studies, for instance across sectors and over time.