?
Ценообразование в российских вузах: как влияют на стоимость обучения вузы-конкуренты?
The paper analyzes the pricing strategies of Russian public universities in the context of the influence of competitors on the market for tuition-paying education. The aim of the study is to determine how competition in local higher education markets affects the pricing strategies of Russian public universities. The empirical basis of the study is formed by the data of the Monitoring of Enrollment Quality at Russian Universities implemented by the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Using pattern analysis methods (order-fixed and order-invariant pattern clustering), homogeneous groups of universities were identified taking into account indicators characterizing the scale and quality of admission to bachelor's and specialist programs. Using the example of technical programs, the regression model for predicting the prices of education in universities of corresponding homogeneous groups for the period 2011-2019 is demonstrated. The results show that each homogeneous group of universities has one or several market leaders who serve as benchmarks for other universities in that group when setting tuition fees. At the same time, university pricing strategies involve orienting towards market leaders in their demand segments and specialty groups. The identified features confirm that competition among universities for students and funding leads to the emergence of market leaders in certain market niches. In some groups of universities, there are clear market leaders at the local and regional levels who have a significant lead over competitors due to the peculiarities of state policy and the high heterogeneity of the Russian educational landscape.