Daria Platonova

• In this thesis, I examine the relationship between internal governance and university performance within the context of Russian higher education from 2012 to 2020, a period marked by the prominent application of New Public Management (NPM) instruments. This study investigates several dimensions of internal governance and its connection to university performance. First, how do internal governance characteristics - such as centralization, stakeholder involvement, external communication, and strategic orientation - relate to university performance? Second, is there a relationship between institutional strategy adoption and university performance from the perspective of university department heads? Additionally, I explore the institutional structures and governance arrangements in Russian higher education, with particular attention to two interrelated developments: the adoption of NPM instruments and system stratification. The study draws on data from a national-level survey of university leaders and administrators, complemented by statistical information. Depending on the data structure and variable characteristics, various quantitative methods - from simple difference tests to conditional efficiency estimations - will be applied to address the research questions.