Research Grants and Independent Scientific Contributions: Evidence from Authorship Position

Matěj Bajgar and Suren Karapetyan

No 2025/30, Working Papers IES from Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies

Abstract: We examine whether competitive research grants generate new research led by the supported principal investigators (PIs), distinguishing publications where the PI made a substantial intellectual contribution (first or last authorship) from all publications. Using data on Czech medical research grants awarded between 2015 and 2019, we apply augmented inverse probability weighting and regression discontinuity designs, comparing funded projects with unfunded projects just below the funding cutoff. Both methods find that grants increase total publications over five years by approximately 2 papers, or 17%. Regression discontinuity estimates further indicate that grants have disproportionately large effects on publications involving substantial intellectual contribution from the PI, increasing first/last-author publications by 1.8 papers, or 40%. Standard outcome measures that ignore authorship position may significantly understate the impact of grants on independent, PI-led scientific output.

Keywords: Regression discontinuity design; Research funding; Scientific productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 O30 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2025-12, Revised 2025-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ppm and nep-sog
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2025_30

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