Research Productivity and Its Relationship to Library Collections

Objective – The purpose of this study was to explore in the current academic library environment, the relationship between library collections data (collections’ size, expenditures, and usage) and faculty productivity (scholarly output). The researchers also examined the degree to which new and existing library metrics predict faculty productivity. Methods – Demographic data (e.g., faculty size, student size, research and development expenditures), library budget data (e.g., collection expenditures), collection use data (e.g., full-text article requests and database searches), and publication output for 81 doctoral granting universities in the United States were collected to explore potential relationships between research productivity, collection use, library budgets, collection size, and research expenditures using partial correlations. A hierarchical multiple regression was also used to ascertain the significance of certain predictors of research productivity (publications). Results – A correlation existed between the number of publications (research productivity) and library expenditures (total library expenditures, total library material expenditures, and ongoing library resource expenditures), collection size (volumes, titles, and ebooks), use of collection (full-text article requests and total number of references in the articles), and research and development expenditures. Another key finding from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that full-text article requests were the best predictor of research productivity, which uniquely explained 10.2% of the variation in publication. Conclusion – The primary findings were that full-text article requests, followed by library material expenditures and research expenditures, were found to be the best predictor of research productivity as measured by articles published.

Back to Basics: Basic Research Spillovers, Innovation Policy, and Growth

This article introduces a general equilibrium model of endogenous technical change through basic and applied research. Basic research differs from applied research in the nature and the magnitude of the generated spillovers. We propose a novel way of empirically identifying these spillovers and embed them in a framework with private firms and a public research sector. After characterizing the equilibrium, we estimate our model using micro-level data on research expenditures by French firms. Our key finding is that uniform research subsidies can accentuate the dynamic misallocation in the economy by oversubsidizing applied research. Policies geared towards public basic research and its interaction with the private sector are significantly welfare-improving.

Non-Neutral Marginal Innovation Costs, Omitted Variables, and Induced Innovation

Prior tests of Hicks’ Induced Innovation Hypothesis (IIH) have been greatly hampered because the lack of supply-side data implicitly requires the untenable assumption that the marginal research cost is the same for different inputs. We document that, with appropriate model specification and panel data, a two-way fixed-effects estimator can account for much of the non-neutrality of the innovation function. Using a test procedure that is robust to a time-variant and non-neutral innovation function, we test the IIH in U.S. agriculture for the period 1960–2004. We use only readily available data for innovation demand and total public research expenditures.

The Interdisciplinary Project as Social Form

This chapter examines the rise and the challenges of the funded interdisciplinary project as a format for research. A range of internal and external causes account for this rise: the complexity of urgent social problems, disciplinary self-critiques, university resource constraints, the influence of neoliberal formats, and public pressure for accountability in research expenditures. Still, the very conditions that facilitate the inauguration of interdisciplinary ventures impede their success in practice. The chapter reviews the interpersonal, intellectual, professional, and institutional sources of team conflict and project dysfunction. It argues for a pragmatic approach of ongoing reflexive attention to social process within the research group, seeking not to overcome but to take account of the inevitable market logics, political agendas, and epistemological compromises.

A Public Policy based on fiscal incentives for supporting companies to Invest in Innovation Projects – The Law of Good

Creativity, technical knowledge and financial resources, whether public or private, are three very important subjects to encourage technological innovation. Public policies on fiscal incentives fostering the increase of investment of financial resources for RD&I projects are particularly needed in developing countries. Therefore, this article aims to inform about the legal and bureaucratic procedures for the execution of research projects developed by partnerships between a company and an Institute of Science and Technology (i.e. ICT) applying the incentives of Brazilian Federal Law No. 11,196/2005 - Law of Good. This letter describes all the legislation that supports such incentives and outlines the needed accounting procedures to be performed. As a result, a demonstration on research expenditures and the impact on the reduction of income taxes is performed regarding to the following Brazilian income taxes: Income Tax (i.e. IRPJ) and Contribution on Net Income (i.e. CSLL), levied to the Brazilian taxpayers.

COPRAS Approach for Efficiency Assessment of R&D Expenditures in Technology Transfer Process

Higher education institutions (HEI) performance results depends not only on successful innovative technology transfer (TT) activities and university-industry cooperation, but also on governance funding, distributed by the priority for certain research and development (R&D) fields. The purpose of this article is to propose a concept to assess the efficiency of R&D funding by sector of performance in European countries. The main goal of the paper is to propose a concept to assess the efficiency of R&D funding in European countries, provide insights, recommendations, and point out tendencies for the future improvement of European funding system for HEIs. Multicriteria ranking method COPRAS – an instrument for analysis and decision-making. The empirical research is based on Eurostat data for the period of 2005–2014. Expenditures on R&D gives the fluent explication of European R&D funding (investments) emphasizing the execution of innovation and TT activities at universities. The proposed assessment model allows comparing performance results and rank countries according the efficiency of research funding. Empirical results reveal that the comparatively higher efficiency of research expenditures is in the Northern European countries, Luxembourg and France. Latter tendency slowing to move forward and enhance performance results of HEIs, as well as countries’ economic growth.

PENDUGAAN ELASTISITAS PENAWARAN OUTPUT DAN PERMINTAAN INPUT USAHATANI JAGUNG

This study aims to determine the effect of changes in output and input prices, corn research expenditures and road infrastructure on output supply and input demand for corn in the Province of East Java and West Java. The data that are analyzed are those of structure of costs of corn farming in the Province of East Java and West Java in 1985-2009. Estimation model employed is the method of Seemingly Unrelated Regression. The results showed that the output supply of corn both in the province of East Java and West Java are elastic to its price changes, however it is inelastic to the price changes of: seed, urea, TSP and labor. Input demand of seed, urea, TSP and labor area inelastic to their price changes. Policy implications of this research is efforts to increase the supply of corn can be carried out by increasing its price, expenditures of corn research, and road infrastructure.