Performance Agreements in Denmark, Ontario and the Netherlands

Several countries have gained experience with performance agreements in higher education. Performance agreements, negotiated between the government and individual institutions, set out an institution’s objectives in terms of future performance in return for a government grant. There can be different reasons for using such performance agreements, which is also evident from the three higher education systems (Denmark, the Netherlands and Ontario, Canada) that we have described, analysed and compared. The descriptions, analyses and comparisons are based on document analysis and a number of expert interviews on the design and functioning of performance agreements. Conclusions and policy recommendations are presented on the advantages and disadvantages of performance agreements.