Basic Research Regarding the Effect of Kakenhi on Research Productivity

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18452
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Special Purposes
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Institution: Waseda University (2018-2019); The University of Tokyo (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Owan Hideo 早稲田大学, 政治経済学術院, 教授 (60433702)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 大西 宏一郎 早稲田大学, 教育・総合科学学術院, 准教授 (60446581) ; 細坪 護挙 文部科学省科学技術・学術政策研究所, 第1調査研究グループ, 上席研究官 (40415625)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-28 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: イノベーション / 研究助成金 / 学術生産性 / ピアレビュー / 回帰不連続デザイン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The project evaluates the effect of Japan's primary national research grant (KAKENHI) on academic productivity in economics over five years as well as examining biases in the review process using novel administrative data from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). To draw causal inferences, we employ a regression discontinuity (RD) design based on the peer-review scores used by the JSPS to select the applications to be funded. The results show that research grants increase the number of papers and citations in economics by 10-15% and 20-26%, respectively. The cost-benefit analysis indicates that the effect is three times greater for young scientists than for other recipients. Further, the results present that receiving the grant encourages junior scientists with tenure to carry out high-impact research independently, while it typically leads researchers without tenure to pursue quantity over quality.

Free Research Field

実証応用ミクロ経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

大学等への研究助成が学術研究生産性に及ぼす影響および審査における潜在的なバイアスの有無について明らかにすることは、資金配分ルール、審査プロセスおよび評価基準などの制度設計を考える上で重要な課題である。本研究を通じて、若手研究者への配分増の必要性、審査プロセスにおける利害相反のチェックの重要性、などを明らかにしたが、より厳密な効果測定のためには代替財源の把握も必要となることを示した。