The Differential Economic Effects of Private Universities in Urban and Rural Regions

Bastian Krieger (), Henning Kroll, Torben Schubert (), Linus Strecke and Cecilia Garcia Chavez
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Bastian Krieger: ZEW – Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung; TUM – Technische Universität München, Postal: Germany
Henning Kroll: Fraunhofer ISI; Leibniz Universität Hannover, Postal: Germany
Torben Schubert: Fraunhofer ISI; CIRCLE, Lund University, Postal: Germany / Sweden
Linus Strecke: ZEW – Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung; TU Berlin, Postal: Germany
Cecilia Garcia Chavez: Fraunhofer ISI; CIRCLE, Lund University, Postal: Germany / Sweden

No 2026/5, Papers in Innovation Studies from Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research

Abstract: We investigate whether the local economic effects of niche university actors depend on regional context. Focusing on private university campuses in Germany, we exploit their staggered foundation between 1990 and 2020 and estimate their effects using a conditional staggered difference-in-differences design at the postal-code level. Campus foundations raise local economic activity, but only gradually, with effects becoming statistically significant after about ten years. The effects are strongest in rural and intermediate regions, while urban regions show no significant effects. This pattern supports our argument that niche universities have greater potential to become significant actors in institutionally thinner rural regions.

Keywords: Regional growth; Private universities; Place-based leadership; Urban-rural (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O12 O18 O38 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2026-09-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm and nep-uep
Note: This research was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), grant numbers 16NISTA04A and 16NISTA04B.
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2026_005

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