As I wander around Australia and New Zealand I ponder why mid- to top- rank researchers often go into administration. Yes, there are notable exceptions, but it seems all too often we see the best researchers take on Department Chair/Head, Associate Dean, and indeed higher level positions like a Dean, vice-Provosts or deputy/vice chancellors as they call them down under.
Is it their being tired of trying to stay on the cutting edge of research? Is it their desire to build to try to build something lasting? Is it being tired of less talented people evaluating their work especially in these days of increasing performance metrification? Maybe it is the perceived returns to research, which are usually intrinsic not extrinsic, that change in value as one matures?
Whatever the reason, it happens it seems to most of us!
Musings on Accounting Research by Steve 
As a researcher, I desired to be a Chair and Dean because I felt I had lessons to share. Unfortunately, I chose to go several steps down the R scale from R1 to R3. The lessons I learned at 3 R1 schools had no application in an R3 setting. The lesson is if you are going to do this transition stay in your own school. This is much easier to do in AUS or NZ because there is much less of a permanent administrator culture.