Ebbe Krogh Graversen

Developing a methodology to assess the impact of research grant funding: A mixed methods approach

This paper discusses the development of a mixed methods approach to analyse research funding. Research policy has taken on an increasingly prominent role in the broader political scene, where research is seen as a critical factor in maintaining and improving growth, welfare and international competitiveness. This has motivated growing emphasis on the impacts of science funding, and how funding can best be designed to promote socio-economic progress. Meeting these demands for impact assessment involves a number of complex issues that are difficult to fully address in a single study or in the design of a single methodology. However, they point to some general principles that can be explored in methodological design. We draw on a recent evaluation of the impacts of research grant funding, discussing both key issues in developing a methodology for the analysis and subsequent results. The case of research grant funding, involving a complex mix of direct and intermediate effects that contribute to the overall impact of funding on research performance, illustrates the value of a mixed methods approach to provide a more robust and complete analysis of policy impacts. Reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology are used to examine refinements for future work.

Tax evasion and work in the underground sector

A bivariate random effect panel data model is estimated for labour supply in the taxable and the non-taxable sectors in Denmark. The results show that wage rates and non-labour income have significant effects on labour supply in both sectors. For men, income taxes seem to twist the labour supply away from taxed regular to untaxed underground supply. For men, the average own wage elasticity with respect to underground labour supply is 0.3 while the cross price elasticity from wages is -0.6 and the income elasticity is -0.1. For women the results are more mixed.

Dynamic research environments: a development model

The paper outlines a model for the development of dynamic and innovative research environments in national innovation systems. The development model is based on an in-depth study and analysis of fifteen research environments selected by the Danish Council for Research Policy as examples of dynamic and innovative public research environments. According to the model, research environments follow certain stages with respect to epistemological, organizational and socio-cultural development that either enable them to advance from one stage to the next in the model or impede this advance. The consequence of the latter is either a static state or dissolution. In the long run only dynamic and innovative research environments survive. The analysis of the cases studied identifies several preconditions that have to be present in such research environments in order for them to emerge, develop and finally reach excellence. The results presented here may well be a valid tool for policy-makers, particularly in Europe where the framework conditions for public R&D are comparable to the Danish.

Overtime Work, Dual Job Holding and Taxation

Labor supply data seldom include detailed information on hours and wages in secondary job or overtime work. Based on survey information on hours and wages in overtime work and second job which is merged to administrative register information on income taxes and deductions we estimate a “Hausman labor supply model,” which allows for a detailed treatment of nonconvexities. Including explicit information on overtime pay and second job wages increase the estimated elasticities compared to a standard labor supply model without this information. However, allowing a more flexible treatment of nonconvexities the estimated elasticities are reduced; even below the estimates of the baseline results. In simulations we show that these findings have significant consequences when evaluating the degree of self-financing of various tax reforms.

Innovation and dynamics in public research environments in Denmark: A research-policy perspective

The theme for this article is dynamic and innovative research environments and the factors that characterise them. The focus is on the relationship between the organisation and management of research, research processes and environmental conditions on the one hand, and research quality and outcomes on the other. The article takes as a point of departure the results of an empirical study of 15 university and other public-sector research environments in Denmark. It identifies the features that characterise the framework of research, research processes, the working and social milieu of research environments and their influence on research in a smaller European country from a research-policy perspective. Innovative research environments could serve as references for research agents attempting to promote innovation and further develop a dynamic science base. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Labor Supply, Overtime Work and Taxation in Denmark

Traditionally, labour supply data do not include explicit information on hours and wages in secondary job or overtime work. We compare the estimated labour supply responses based on budget constraints reflecting detailed information on wages in overtime work and second job with the estimates based on budget constraints which do not include information on overtime work or second jobs. The estimated elasticities are numerically larger when explicit information on overtime and second fob work is taken into account. Based on the estimations, we simulate the supply responses of a financed Earned-Income-Tax-Credit (EITc) tax reform which has been proposed lately in Denmark.

Additionality of public R&D funding for business R&D – a dynamic panel data analysis

An important issue in R&D policy is whether publicly funded R&D is a substitute or a complement to privately funded R&D. However, measuring the impact of R&D policies has proven a difficult task, complicated by simultaneity and selection bias. We utilise a dynamic panel data approach to examine the effect of public funding that takes account of both these potential biases, using R&D data for Danish firms from 1995 to 2005. We find robust evidence of significant complementary effects, with a 1% increase in public funding yielding around a 0.12% increase in privately funded R&D. For predicted values of public funding for both R&D active firms that have and have not received public funding, estimates are slightly lower, at around 0.09%.