Abstract This commentary outlines an agenda for critical economic geography research to investigate the motivations, outcomes and geographies of university mergers. Drawing from examples around the world, and focusing on the UK higher education system as a pertinent example, we explore inter-university (between institutions) and intra-university mergers (within institutions), demonstrating their potential to reshape institutions, academic disciplines and local communities in powerful ways. Remaining sensitive to geographical context while conceptualizing universities as anchor institutions, we outline the inherent contradictions of university mergers, arguing that economic geographers are uniquely positioned to investigate this phenomenon.
Keenan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.