IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/lucirc/2013_043.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are there Scale Economies in Scientific Production? On the Topic of Locally Increasing Returns to Scale

Author

Listed:
  • Schubert , Torben

    (CIRCLE, Lund University)

Abstract

In this paper the question of returns to scale in scientific production is analyzed using nonparametric techniques for multidimensional efficiency measurement. Based on survey data for German research groups from three scientific fields it is shown that the multidimensional production possibility sets are weakly non-convex and locally strictly non-convex. This implies that the production functions for the groups in the sample are characterised by increasing returns in some regions and at least constant returns to scale otherwise. This has two implications for organization of scientific research: first, at least some groups in our sample have suboptimal size and could benefit from growing. Second, specialisation on certain tasks in science (e.g. transfer-oriented groups vs. research-oriented groups) would increase output of the overall system.

Suggested Citation

  • Schubert , Torben, 2013. "Are there Scale Economies in Scientific Production? On the Topic of Locally Increasing Returns to Scale," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/43, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.circle.lu.se/upload/CIRCLE/workingpapers/201343_Schubert.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carayol, Nicolas & Matt, Mireille, 2004. "Does research organization influence academic production?: Laboratory level evidence from a large European university," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1081-1102, October.
    2. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    3. Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 1998. "Sensitivity Analysis of Efficiency Scores: How to Bootstrap in Nonparametric Frontier Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 49-61, January.
    4. Johnes, Jill, 2006. "Data envelopment analysis and its application to the measurement of efficiency in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 273-288, June.
    5. Brandt, Tasso & Schubert, Torben, 2012. "Is the University Model an Organizational Necessity? Scale and Agglomeration Effects in Science," Papers in Innovation Studies 2012/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    6. Susanne Warning, 2004. "Performance Differences in German Higher Education: Empirical Analysis of Strategic Groups," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(4), pages 393-408, June.
    7. Wu, De-Min, 1973. "Alternative Tests of Independence Between Stochastic Regressors and Disturbances," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 41(4), pages 733-750, July.
    8. Ulrich Schmoch & Torben Schubert & Dorothea Jansen & Richard Heidler & Regina von Görtz, 2010. "How to use indicators to measure scientific performance: a balanced approach," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 2-18, March.
    9. Tasso Brandt & Torben Schubert, 2013. "Is the university model an organizational necessity? Scale and agglomeration effects in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(2), pages 541-565, February.
    10. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Cinzia Daraio, 2005. "Exploring size and agglomeration effects on public research productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(1), pages 87-120, March.
    11. Nicolas Carayol & Mireille Matt, 2004. "Does research organization influence academic production ?," Post-Print hal-00279014, HAL.
    12. David N. Laband & Bernard F. Lentz, 2003. "New Estimates of Economies of Scale and Scope in Higher Education," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(1), pages 172-183, July.
    13. Johnes, Jill, 2006. "Measuring teaching efficiency in higher education: An application of data envelopment analysis to economics graduates from UK Universities 1993," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(1), pages 443-456, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Torben Schubert, 2014. "Are there scale economies in scientific production? On the topic of locally increasing returns to scale," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(2), pages 393-408, May.
    2. Kerstin Pull & Birgit Pferdmenges & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "Do Research Training Groups Operate at Optimal Size?," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(2), pages 129-145, May.
    3. Marcel Clermont & Alexander Dirksen & Harald Dyckhoff, 2015. "Returns to scale of Business Administration research in Germany," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 583-614, May.
    4. Tasso Brandt & Torben Schubert, 2014. "Is the university model an organizational necessity? Scale and agglomeration effects in science," Chapters, in: Andrea Bonaccorsi (ed.), Knowledge, Diversity and Performance in European Higher Education, chapter 8, pages iii-iii, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Tasso Brandt & Torben Schubert, 2013. "Is the university model an organizational necessity? Scale and agglomeration effects in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(2), pages 541-565, February.
    6. Erik E. Lehmann & Michele Meoli & Stefano Paleari & Sarah A. E. Stockinger, 2018. "Approaching effects of the economic crisis on university efficiency: a comparative study of Germany and Italy," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(1), pages 37-54, March.
    7. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2020. "Measuring and explaining the production efficiency of Spanish universities using a non-parametric approach and a bootstrapped-truncated regression," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(2), pages 825-846, February.
    8. Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Belingheri, Paola & Secondi, Luca, 2021. "The research productivity of universities. A multilevel and multidisciplinary analysis on European institutions," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    9. Mehdi Rhaiem, 2017. "Measurement and determinants of academic research efficiency: a systematic review of the evidence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 581-615, February.
    10. Mehdi Rhaiem & Nabil Amara, 2020. "Determinants of research efficiency in Canadian business schools: evidence from scholar-level data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 53-99, October.
    11. Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Aleksandra Parteka, 2011. "Efficiency of European public higher education institutions: a two-stage multicountry approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(3), pages 887-917, December.
    12. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Luca Secondi & Enza Setteducati & Alessio Ancaiani, 2014. "Participation and commitment in third-party research funding: evidence from Italian Universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 169-198, April.
    13. Torben Schubert & Guoliang Yang, 2016. "Institutional change and the optimal size of universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1129-1153, September.
    14. Slobodan Perović & Sandro Radovanović & Vlasta Sikimić & Andrea Berber, 2016. "Optimal research team composition: data envelopment analysis of Fermilab experiments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(1), pages 83-111, July.
    15. Brandt, Tasso & Schubert, Torben, 2012. "Is the University Model an Organizational Necessity? Scale and Agglomeration Effects in Science," Papers in Innovation Studies 2012/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    16. Bergantino, Angela Stefania & Capozza, Claudia & Porcelli, Francesco, 2015. "Hotelling competition and teaching efficiency of Italian university faculties. A semi-parametric analysis," MPRA Paper 62927, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Mad Ithnin Salleh & Nurul Fadly Habidin & Abdul Halim Masnan & Nordin Mamat, 2017. "Estimating Technical Efficiency and Bootstrapping Malmquist Indices: Analysis of Malaysian Preschool Sector," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(3), pages 440-457, March.
    18. Xianmei Wang & Hanhui Hu, 2017. "Sustainability in Chinese Higher Educational Institutions’ Social Science Research: A Performance Interface toward Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Ray, Subhash C. & Jeon, Yongil, 2008. "Reputation and efficiency: A non-parametric assessment of America's top-rated MBA programs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 245-268, August.
    20. Alka Obadić & Aleksander Aristovnik, 2011. "Relative efficiency of higher education in Croatia and Slovenia: an international comparison," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(30), pages 362-376, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research Units; Specialisation; Production; Efficiency; Returns to scale; DEA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_043. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Torben Schubert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/circlse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.