Governanceregimes im Wandel

Since the early 1990s, substantial changes have been observed in the organizational and decision structures of the non-university research sector. Drawing on a broad spectrum of quantitative and qualitative evidence, we investigate these changes in the governance regimes of the Max-Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz Association and the Leibniz Association. Our analysis shows that the output efficiency of these four research organizations has increased markedly. Also, new governance mechanisms have become stronger, such as hierarchical management, resource competition, network coordination and international reputational competition. In contrast to developments in the university sector, however, we do not find evidence for a decrease in state influence. Rather, the governance regimes of research organizations have become more complex and tend to be “over-steered”.