Funding research with scientific grants in Italy: the impact of "PRIN"

Antonio Accetturo (), Raffaello Bronzini (), Federica Daniele (), Irene Di Marzio (), Elena Lazzaro (), Francesca Modena () and Lorenzo Raspollini ()
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Antonio Accetturo: Bank of Italy
Raffaello Bronzini: Bank of Italy
Federica Daniele: Bank of Italy
Irene Di Marzio: Bank of Italy
Elena Lazzaro: Bank of Italy
Francesca Modena: Bank of Italy
Lorenzo Raspollini: Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca

No 972, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: The Projects of relevant national interest (PRIN) programme is the most widespread instrument through which the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) funds basic research via competitive procedures. This paper estimates the programme's impact on publications, patenting capacity, career progression and the creation of new businesses, by comparing the performance of researchers funded for the first time by the 2015 and 2017 calls with that of researchers deemed eligible for funding but who were not financed because the funds ran out. The results show that PRIN programmes had a positive impact on the number of publications, including those of high quality. The effect was greater for the 2017 call, which featured more generous funding, and was driven by the STEM, biology and medical sciences fields. Younger researchers, and to some extent women, experienced a much more pronounced positive effect than the average. Patent activity and researchers' careers were not influenced by PRIN funding, while the effect on new business creation was positive, but only driven by medical fields.

Keywords: public research funding; scientific grants; publications; research policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O30 O31 O38 O43 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10
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