School of Accounting and Commercial Law – Te Kura Kaute, Ture Tauhokohoko: Chair in Public Finance: Working Paper Series

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/21218

The Chair in Public Finance is located in the school of School of Accounting and Commercial Law. The aims of the Chair in Public Finance are to build up expertise in the area of public finance (broadly defined) and to promote research, debate, policy analysis and advice on public finance matters. For further information about the chair please refer to the Chair in Public Finance website.

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Open Access
The 'Disciplinary Effect' of the Performance-based Research Fund Process in New Zealand
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2019) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John
This paper examines how the research quality of academic disciplines within New Zealand universities has evolved since the first Performance-based Research Fund (PBRF) assessment in 2003. The analysis uses a database consisting of an anonymous ‘quality category’ (QC) for each person assessed in the 2003 and 2012 PBRF assessment rounds. Individual researchers are assigned to academic discipline groups and the paper measures the distribution of researchers across disciplines and the discipline composition of universities. There has been little change in the distribution and their concentration within and across universities. However, exceptions are increases in the shares of medicine and agriculture, and a reduction in the share of education. Research Average Quality Scores are derived for discipline groups. All groups substantially increased their scores. Transition matrices show that there are significant differences in the dynamics of the various disciplines during the PBRF process. The paper shows that changes in the discipline composition of universities explains little of the proportional improvement of research quality among New Zealand universities.
Open Access
An Evaluation of Metrics Used by the Performance-Based Research Fund Process in New Zealand
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2017) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John
The New Zealand Performance-based Research Fund (PBRF) applies a unique set of metrics to assess researchers and rank disciplines and universities. The process involves giving a ‘raw score’ to individual researchers and then assigning them to one of four Quality Evaluation Categories (QECs), used to derive Average Quality Scores (AQS). This paper evaluates the properties of these metrics and argues that QEC thresholds influence the final distribution of assessments. The paper also demonstrates that the derivation of AQSs depends on the weights assigned to each QEC and the distribution of portfolios. The method used to determine the raw scores also has an independent effect on the distribution of scores. The number of researchers included in evaluations also influences the rankings. The paper compares how research rankings of New Zealand universities would vary if alternative summary measures, based on the raw scores rather than QECs, were used to evaluate peformance.
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The Evolution of Research Quality in New Zealand Universities as Measured by the Performance-Based Research Fund Process
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2017) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John
This paper examines how the research quality of staff within New Zealand universities has evolved since the introduction in 2003 of the Performance-based Research Fund (PBRF). The analysis uses a database consisting of an anonymous ‘quality evaluation category (QEC) for each individual assessed in each of the three PBRF assessment rounds. Emphasis is on the evaluation of organisational changes in performance. The paper examines the extent to which each university’s Average Quality Score (AQS) changed as a result of changes in the QECs of existing staff over time and from the exit and entry of staff with different scores. The sensitivity of university rankings to the cardinal scale used by the PBRF is also considered and the degree of convergence amongst the universities is assessed. The data also include information about the age of staff evaluated in PBRF, and this is used to evaluate changes in the age distribution of staff across universities, and the ages of those making transitions within universities and between grades. The results reveal a systematic ageing of university staff in NZ and a significant change in the grade distribution by age, and age distribution by grade. A number of hypotheses regarding organisation change in response to the introduction of PBRF are discussed and tested by comparing universities with different patterns of change.
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The Impact on Research Quality of Performance-Based Funding: The Case of New Zealand's PBRF Scheme*
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2018) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John
This paper discusses the impact on research quality of New Zealand universities of the Performance-Based Research Fund from 2003 to 2012. This is a peer-review process involving assessment of individual researchers. The contribution to improvement in research quality of transitions among research quality categories and entrants and exits of individuals are identified. A substantial component of change has been the removal of non-research active staff. There has been population ageing due to retention of older and higher-quality researchers and a large reduction in the number of younger researchers. Significant differences among universities are evident in the patterns of transformation. The paper also critically considers the PBRF assessment process and characteristics of the metrics used, suggesting scope for improvement in the assessment of researchers and the way in which universities are ranked.
Open Access
The Performance Based Research Fund in NZ: Taking Stock and Looking Forward
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2022) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John
This paper draws on earlier research by the authors to review changes in research quality in New Zealand universities since the introduction of the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) in 2003. The changes are related closely to the incentives created by the scheme, and are associated with the nature of the considerable staff turnover that has taken place over the 15-year period during which it has operated. The precise funding formulae used, relating to the research funds attached to different discipline groups and quality categories, involve political judgements and are not considered here. However, a review of the changed nature of universities and the details of the evaluation process suggest that substantial simplifications could usefully be made while maintaining incentives that are at the heart of any PBRF.
Open Access
Sources of Convergence and Divergence in University Research Quality: Evidence from the Performance-Based Research Funding System in New Zealand
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2021) Buckle, Robert A; Creedy, John; Gemmell, Norman
The introduction of performance-based research funding systems (PBRFS) in many countries has generated new information on the impact of these systems. Recent research has considered whether such systems generate convergence or divergence of research quality across universities and disciplines. However, little attention has been given to the processes determining research quality changes. This paper utilises anonymised longitudinal researcher data over fifteen years of the New Zealand PBRFS to evaluate whether research quality changes are characterised by convergence or divergence, and the processes determining those dynamics. A unique feature of this research is the use of longitudinal data to decompose changes in researcher quality into contributions arising from the entry, exit and quality transformations of retained researchers, and their impacts on the convergence or divergence of research quality of universities and disciplines. The paper also identifies how researcher dynamics vary systematically between universities and disciplines, providing new insights into the effects of these systems.

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