1. Funding incentives, collaborative dynamics and scientific productivity: Evidence from the EU framework program
- Author
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Defazio, Daniela, Lockett, Andy, and Wright, Mike
- Subjects
Business schools ,Employee incentives ,Management buyouts ,Business ,Business, general ,Social sciences - Abstract
To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2008.11.008 Byline: Daniela Defazio (a), Andy Lockett (b), Mike Wright (c)(d) Keywords: Research productivity; Collaboration; EU-funded networks Abstract: In this paper we examine how incentives for collaboration shape collaborative behavior and researcher productivity in the context of EU-funded research networks. EU-funded research networks require researchers to collaborate as a condition for securing research funding. The presence of research funding, therefore, may influence collaborative behavior. Our approach involves isolating the effects of funding, collaboration and previous collaborations (prior to funding) on research output, and examining how the pattern of collaboration affects research productivity over time. Employing a panel of 294 researchers in 39 EU research networks over a 15-year period we find that while the impact of funding on productivity is generally positive the overall impact of collaboration within the funded networks is weak. When we delineate between pre-, during- and post-funding periods, however, we find some important differences. During the period of funding, collaboration did not lead to an increase in research production. In the post-funding period we find that although the number of collaborations decreases within the network, the impact of collaboration on productivity is positive and significant. Our findings suggest that collaborations formed to capitalize on funding opportunities, while not effective in enhancing researcher productivity in the short run, may be an important promoter of effective collaborations in the longer run. Author Affiliation: (a) Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada (b) Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom (c) Center for Management Buy-out Research, Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom (d) Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands Article History: Received 29 August 2007; Revised 5 November 2008; Accepted 6 November 2008
- Published
- 2009