Faculty shuffle: simulating institutional gaming in research evaluation

Abstract This study explores potential institutional ‘gaming’ behaviors among Italian universities within the context of the VQR 2020–2024 national research evaluation exercise. Using mixed-integer linear programming to simulate potential faculty reallocations across departments, we assess the extent to which strategic internal restructuring can affect university performance outcomes. Results indicate that universities with lower baseline research scores have stronger incentives for internal reorganization. Furthermore, while intra-departmental collaboration provides opportunities for gaming through duplicable outputs, it is the quality of collaborative research that significantly drives evaluation score improvements. The findings highlight critical policy implications, calling for refined evaluation criteria and increased transparency to mitigate gaming behaviors.