This Paper deals with the influence that New Public Management (NPM) mechanisms have on research performance. Using a large dataset of German university Research units, it can be shown that both greater internal hierachy (espacially »strong cancellors«) as well as greater operative flexibility for the researchers themselves increase research performance. Some of the variables, including the presence of research councils, have a positive effect on research efficiency only uinder some definitions of research output. On the other hand, the introduction of research accounting systems has a negative impact.