Part I: Setting the Stage.- Chapter 1: A world full of mergers: The Nordic countries in a global context. Rómulo Pinheiro, Lars Geschwind and Timo Aarrevaara.- Part II: Path Dependencies & System Dynamics.- Chapter 2: Mergers in Norwegian higher education. Svein Kyvik and Bjørn Stensaker.- Chapter 3: Conflicting Rationalities: Mergers and Consolidations in Swedish Higher Education Policy. Mats Benner and Lars Geschwind.- Chapter 4: Merger mania? The Finnish higher education experience. Timo Aarrevaara and Ian R. Dobson.- Chapter 5: Mergers in Danish Higher education: An overview over the changing landscape. Kaare Aagaard, Hanne F. Hansen and Jørgen G. Rasmussen.- Part III: Case Studies.- Chapter 6:  The anatomy of a merger process in the greater Oslo region. Elizabeth Mathisen and Rómulo Pinheiro.- Chapter 7: Mergers in the North: The Making of the Artic University of Norway. Peter Arbo and Tove Bull.- Chapter 8: Mergers as opportunities for branding: The Making of the Linnaeus University. Lars Geschwind, Göran Melin and Linda Wedlin.- Chapter 9: Takeovers in Swedish Higher Education: Comparing the “hostile” and the “friendly”. Sara Karlsson and Lars Geschwind.- Chapter 10: Merger of two Universities of Applied Sciences. Maria Sutela and Yuzhuo Cai.- Chapter 11: A complex and messy merger: The road to the University of Eastern Finland. Jarkko Tirronen, Hanna-Mari Aula and Timo Aarrevaara.- Chapter 12: Different faces of Danish Higher Education mergers. Kaare Aagaard, Hanne F. Hansen and Jørgen G. Rasmussen.- Chapter 13: Post-merger experiences at Danish Higher Education Institutions. Kaare Aagaard, Hanne F. Hansen and Jørgen G. Rasmussen.- Part IV: Lessons Learnt and Way Forward.- Chapter 14: The many guises of Nordic higher education mergers. Lars Geschwind, RómuloPinheiro and Timo Aarrevaara.     

This book addresses the critical knowledge gaps of mergers involving higher education institutions. It is based on a comparative research project (spring 2013-spring 2015) investigating the phenomena of mergers involving higher education institutions across the Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The study involved close to 30 scholars from the region, and aimed at shedding critical light on, and providing novel contributions around, the following key aspects: Conceptual and theoretical approaches – strengths and limitations - towards the study of the phenomena of mergers in higher education; Historical developments, leading to significant structural changes in the domestic higher education landscape, and, in turn, how mergers have been used as a policy/institutional mechanism to foster adaptation to a new external environment at the local, national, regional and international levels; The complex dynamicsinherent to merger processes by undertaking an in-depth investigation of a series of selected case studies, with a particular focus on the “black-box” associated with the implementation process; The implications of the findings as regards future policy and strategic endeavours, theory development and future research agenda.    

Provides an up-to-date and integrated comparative account of merger processes involving HE institutions across the Nordic region Moves beyond description towards in-depth analysis of the complexities inherent to the ‘black-box’ of the implementation process Brings together leading social scientists based in the region with vast knowledge of the subject Bridges theory and practice, by providing policy makers and institutional managers with critical insights substantiated on solid empirical evidence