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Does grant funding foster research impact? Evidence from France

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Corsini

    (UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)

  • Michele Pezzoni

    (UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur, OST - Observatoire des Sciences et des Techniques - HCERES - Haut Conseil de l'Évaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur, OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po, ICRIOS - ICRIOS, Bocconi University, Italy - Bocconi University [Milan, Italy])

Abstract

Over the last fifteen years, European countries have increasingly relied on competitive grants to allocate research funding, replacing the more traditional block funding model. Policymakers are interested in assessing the effectiveness of the grant funding model in producing impactful research. However, the literature aiming to quantify the effect of grants on the resulting research's impact is scant. In the French context, we compare the impact of scientific articles resulting from the support of competitive grants from the main national funding agency with the impact of articles not supported by grants. We rely on publication acknowledgments to retrieve funding information and on citation data to assess the articles' impact. We find that articles supported by competitive grants receive more citations than articles not supported by grants in the long run, while the difference is not statistically significant in the short run. We find heterogeneity in the effect of grant funding on citations across fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Corsini & Michele Pezzoni, 2022. "Does grant funding foster research impact? Evidence from France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03912647, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03912647
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03912647
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    Keywords

    Competitive funding; Research impact; French funding agency;
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