Handbook of Public Funding of Research

by Benedetto Lepori (Editor), Ben Jongbloed (Editor), Diana Hicks (Editor)

Overview

Given the recent re-evaluation of research funding policy as an issue central to national governments and the EU, it is imperative that underlying rationales and channels for investment in research and development are examined. A pioneering analysis of the complexity, allocation and management of public funding of research, this Handbook explores the strategies whereby research can be successfully targeted and supported to resolve problems of broad public concern.

Used effectively, the Handbook finds, research has the potential to support economic growth, create jobs, enhance social welfare, protect the environment and expand the frontiers of human knowledge. Taking a multi-level approach, chapters strategize ways to address various funding objectives through analysis of policy design, policy instruments, research organizations and researchers, while remedying disparities resulting from the distribution of research funds. The Handbook’s expansive scope, which covers variation in goals and instrument management over time and across countries, facilitates an approach that not only scrutinizes existing paradigms of public research funding but also looks to the future.

With authoritative analysis and theoretical frameworks by leading scholars, the Handbook employs an interdisciplinary approach that combines sociology of sciences, political sciences and economics. It will prove a useful resource for scholars and researchers in science policy studies, alongside policy analysts in ministries and research funding organizations seeking to better understand their working environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800883079
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	03/10/2023
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.62(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by Benedetto Lepori, Institute of Communication and Public Policy, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland, Ben Jongbloed, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), University of Twente, the Netherlands and Diana Hicks, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, US

Table of Contents

Contents:

1 Introduction to the Handbook of Public Funding of Research:
understanding vertical and horizontal complexities 1
Benedetto Lepori, Ben Jongbloed and Diana Hicks

PART I PUBLIC POLICIES AND RESEARCH FUNDING
2 What is public about public research? The case of COVID-19 R&D 21
Barry Bozeman
3 Motivations guiding public research funding in science, technology and
innovation (STI) policy: a synthesis 38
Aixa Y. Alemán-Díaz
4 Politics of public research funding: the case of the European Union 55
Inga Ulnicane

PART II POLICY MIXES IN PUBLIC RESEARCH FUNDING:
LAYERING AND COMPLEXITY
5 Ideas and instruments in public research funding 73
Giliberto Capano
6 Performance-based research funding and its impacts on research
organizations 90
Gunnar Sivertsen
7 R&D programs as instruments for governmental R&D funding policy 107
Emanuela Reale, Magnus Gulbrandsen and Thomas Scherngell
8 Size matters! On the implications of increasing the size of research grants 123
Carter Bloch, Alexander Kladakis and Mads P. Sørensen
9 Potentials and limitations of program-based research funding for the
transformation of research systems 139
Susanne Bührer, Sarah Seus and Rainer Walz
10 Targeting research to address societal needs: what can we learn from 30
years of targeting neglected diseases? 156
Josie Coburn, Ohid Yaqub and Joanna Chataway
11 The construction of competition in public research funding systems 172
Stefan Arora-Jonsson, Nils Brunsson and Peter Edlund

PART III INTERACTION OF FUNDING SYSTEMS WITH
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND HIERARCHIES
12 Incentives, rationales, and expected impact: linking performance-based
research funding to internal funding distributions of universities 186
Jussi Kivistö and Charles Mathies
13 Research funding in the context of high institutional stratification:
policy scenarios for Europe based on insights from the United States 203
Arlette Jappe and Thomas Heinze
14 Public research organisations and public research funding 221
Laura Cruz-Castro and Luis Sanz-Menéndez

PART IV RESEARCHERS’ INTERACTION WITH THE FUNDING
ENVIRONMENT
15 Reframing study of research(er) funding towards configurations and trails 242
Duncan A. Thomas and Irene Ramos-Vielba
16 Researchers’ responses to their funding situation 261
Grit Laudel
17 Gender and underrepresented minorities differences in research funding 279
Laura Cruz-Castro, Donna K. Ginther and Luis Sanz-Menéndez
18 Research funding and scientific careers 301
Julia Melkers, Richard Woolley and Quintin Kreth
19 Research funding and academics’ scholarly performance 322
Hugo Horta and Huan Li

PART V SYSTEM PERSPECTIVES AND COUNTRY VARIATIONS
20 Context matters: conceptualizing research funding policies through the
lens of the varieties of academic capitalism approach 340
Olivier Bégin-Caouette, Silvia Mirlene Nakano Koga and
Émanuelle Maltais
21 System-level insights into public funding of research from emerging
economies 361
Juan D. Rogers
22 Public research funding in Asian latecomer countries: developmental
legacy and dilemmas 378
So Young Kim

Index 395

Editorial Reviews

‘Public funding of research is crucial for independent, creative knowledge production in universities and research organisations, certainly in view of the great societal challenges of our time. This Handbook offers analyses by leading international scholars, showing how modes of funding have changed in the 21st century, with both pitfalls and promising avenues. A must-read for academics and policymakers engaged in transformative knowledge politics.’

Stefan Kuhlmann

'Many should be grateful for the publication of this important Handbook. Scholars from different disciplines provide significant insights into a system that has both expanded considerably as well as changed towards project financing. It offers highly recommended reading for politicians at the top of the system down to individual researchers.'

Lars Engwall

‘This Handbook is timely as our science systems are under increasing pressure to deliver impact with tighter resources and increased performance pressure for individuals and organisations. It provides creative perspectives and concepts to better understand how different funding systems and policies and their changes interact with research organisations, research practices and researcher careers. In providing thorough reflection on these interactions it presents a step-change in science policy research and is highly meaningful for scholars, funders, policy makers and politicians.’

Jakob Edler

‘A unique Handbook addressing the radical changes public research and universities have witnessed during the last 20 years. It is unique by its national, organizational and individual analyses of transformations, and by its ability to question established categories (e.g. top down vs bottom-up, or basic vs applied).

Philippe Larédo