A Schumpeterian Gale: Using Longitudinal Data to Evaluate Responses to Performance-Based Research Funding Systems

Abstract

Performance-based research funding systems (PBRFS) have been introduced in many countries for allocating funding to research institutions. There continues to be considerable debate about the effectiveness and consequences of these systems. This paper provides a new approach to this debate. It utilises longitudinal researcher data available from the New Zealand PBRFS, which assesses institutional performance and allocates funds based on individual researcher performance. The longitudinal data enable identification of entry, exit and quality transformation of researchers and the contribution of these dynamics to changes in university and discipline research quality, in a manner similar to Schumpeter’s description of the impact of firm dynamics on productivity and economic growth, in terms of a ‘gale of creative destruction’. The approach enables a deeper understanding of individual and institutional responses to PBRFSs, the sustainability of changes, and the contributions of changes in researcher quality and discipline composition to changes in institutional performance.