Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustainability of incentives for excellent research — The German case

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The state authorities in Germany used to fund public sector research without controlling the performance of the research units. This has changed during past decade, where the dominant mechanism by which formerly unconditional state funds are allocated nowadays is indicator-based performance measurement. The indicator sets used to measure the research-related performance in the German public science sector are usually very narrow, often consisting exclusively of finished doctoral theses and third-party funds. Using a unique dataset of 473 German research units from astrophysics, nanotechnology, economics and biotechnology, this paper outlines principles for the construction of sensible indicator sets for the performance measurement of scientific research groups. It is argued that scientific production is multidimensional. Thus one-sided indicator sets that fail to cover the relevant output dimensions give rise to incentives that will ultimately lower the performance of the science sector in total. Indicator sets should strive for sustainable incentives, which can be guaranteed if the sets are broad enough. As a starting point it is shown that the very common performance indicator ‘acquired third-party funds’ may affect research efficiency negatively, especially if the level of third-party funds is already very high. Therefore, we conclude that third-party funds should be used with great care, if at all.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berghoff, S., Federkeil, G., Giebisch, P., Hachmeister, C.-D. Müller-Böling, D., Siekermann, M., Das CHE-Forschungsranking deutscher Universitäten 2004. CHE Working Paper, 62, 2005.

  • Charnes, A., Cooper, W., Rhodes, E. (1978), Measuring the inefficiency of decision-making units, European Journal of Operational Research, 6: 429–444.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Cozzens, S. (1989), What do citations count? The rhetorical first model, Scientometrics, 15: 437–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, H.-D., Guardians of Science: Fairness and Reliability of Peer Review, VCH, Weinheim, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, H.-D., Wissenschaftsevaluation. Center for Science and Technology Studies, CEST 2001/2.

  • Deprins, D., Simar, L. (1983), On farrell measures of technical efficiency, Recherches Economiques de Louvain, 49: 123–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Förder-Ranking 2003. Institutionen — Regionen — Netzwerke — DFG-Bewilligungen und weitere Basisdaten öffentlich geförderter Forschung, Bonn, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutscher Bundestag (ed.) (1997), Konzept Nachhaltigkeit — Fundamente für die Gesellschaft von morgen. Bonn, Information Science and Technology, 49: 932–941.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrel, M. (1957), The measurement of productive efficiency, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, 120: 253–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forschergruppe “Governance der Forschung”, Forschungspolitische Thesen zu Rahmenbedingungen für eine leistungsfähige öffentlich finanzierte Forschung anlässlich der Tagung “Neue Governance für die Forschung” am 14. und 15.3.2007 in Berlin, 2007.

  • Franke, K., Wald, A., Bartl, K. (2006), Die Wirkung von Reformen im deutschen Forschungssystem. Eine Studie in den Feldern Astrophysik, Nanotechnologie und Mikroökonomie, Speyerer Forschungsbericht, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geuna, A. (1997), Allocation of funds and research output: The case of uk universities, Revue d’Economie Industrielle, 79: 143–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geuna, A., The economics of knowledge production. Funding and the structure of university research, New horizons in the economics of innovation, Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, G. (1977), Referencing as persuasion, Social Science Studies, 17: 113–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hornbostel, S., Wissenschaftsindikatoren. Bewertungen in der Wissenschaft, Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornbostel, S. (2001), Third party funding of German universities. An indicator of research activity? Scientometrics, 50: 523–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jäger, M., Leszczensky, M., Orr, D., Schwarzenberger, A., Formelgebundene Mittelvergabe und Zielvereinbarungen als Instrumente der Budgetierung an deutschen Universitäten, Hochschulinformationssystem, 2005.

  • Jäger, M. (2006), Leistungsbezogene Budgetierung an deutschen Universitäten, Wissenschaftsmanagement, 3: 30–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, D., Wald, A., Franke, K., Schmoch, U., Schubert, T. (2007), Drittmittel als Performanzindikator der wissenschaftlichen Forschung: Zum Einfluss von Rahmenbedingungen auf Forschungsleistung, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 59: 125–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnes, J. (2006), Data envelopment analysis and its application to the measure of efficiency in higher education, Economics of Education Review, 25: 273–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamenz, U., Wehrle, M., Professor Untat: Was faul ist hinter den Kulissen, Econ-Verlag, Berlin, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhlmann, S., Heinze, T. (2004a), Evaluation von Forschungsleistungen in Deutschland. Erzeuger und Bedarf. Teil I: Konzeptionelle Grundlage. Wissenschaftsrecht, 37: 53–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhlmann, S., Heinze, T. (2004b), Evaluation von Forschungsleistungen in Deutschland. Erzeuger und Bedarf. Teil II: Produktion und Verwendung evaluativer Information sowie Möglichkeiten ihrer künftigen Organisation, Wissenschaftsrecht, 37: 125–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B, Wolgar, S., Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts, Sage Publishing, Los Angeles, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laudel, G. (2005), Is external research funding a valid indicator for research performance, Research Evaluation, 14: 27–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurson, K., Salter, A. (2004), Searching high and low: What types of firms use universities as a source of innovation, Research Policy, 33: 1201–1215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leszczensky, M., Orr, D., Staatliche Hochschulfinanzierung durch indikatorgestützte Mittelverteilung, Hochschulinformationssystem, 2004.

  • Merton, R. (1957), Priorities in scientific discovery: A chapter in the sociology of science, American Sociological Review, 22: 635–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R., Foreword. In: E. Garfield (Ed.), Citation Indexing: Its Theory and Application in Science, Technology, and Humanities, pp. vii–xi. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moed H. F., Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation Information Science and Knowledge Management, Springer, Dordrecht, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moed, H. F., Luwel, M., Houben, J. A., Spruyt, E., Van Den Berghe, H. (1998), The effects of changes in the funding structure of the Flemish universities on their research capacity, productivity and impact during the 1980’s and early 1990’s, Scientometrics, 43: 231–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagpaul, P., Roy, S. (2003), Constructing a multi-objective measure of research performance, Scientometrics, 56: 383–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neidhardt, F., Selbststeuerung in der Forschungsförderung. Das Gutachterwesen der DFG, Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD, The Management of Science Systems. Science Technology Industry, OECD, Paris, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ott, K., Lässt sich das Nachhaltigkeitskonzept auf Wissen anwenden? In: Kornwachs, K. (Ed.), Nachhaltigkeit des Wissens, Zukunftsdialoge des VDI: Unterwegs zur Wissensgesellschaft, 4. Workshop, Konstanz 6.-7.10.1999.

  • Rousseau, S., Rousseau, R. (1997), Data envelopment analysis as a tool for constructing scientometric indicators, Scientometrics, 40: 45–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmoch, U., The Role of Universities in Economic Growth: The German Situation. Paper presented at “UNIVERSIDAD 2006”, 5th International Congress on Higher Education, Cuba, 13–17 February, 2006, http://developinguniversities.blogsome.com/category/country-position-papers.

  • Schmoch, U., Schubert, T. (2008), Are international co-publications an indicator for quality of scientific research? Scientometrics, 74: 361–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schubert, T., New Public Management und Leistungsmessung im deutschen Forschungssektor: Theorie, Umsetzung und Wirkungsanalyse, Doctoral thesis at University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2008a, http://www.opus.ub.uni-erlangen.de/opus/ frontdoor.php?source_opus=870

  • Schubert, T., Are there increasing returns to scale in scientific production? DIME-Brick Workshop, July, 14th–15th, Torino, 2008b.

  • Schubert, T., Schmoch, U. (2008), How lazy are university professors really: A not so seriously meant note on observations made during an online-inquiry, Soziale Welt, 59: 74–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warning, J. (2004), Performance differences in german higher education: Empirical analysis of strategic groups, Review of Industrial Organization, 24: 393–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weingart, P., Wissenschaftssoziologie. transcipt-Verlag, Bielefeld, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weingart, P. (2005), Impact of bibliometrics upon the science system: Inadvertent consequences? Scientometrics, 62: 117–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WISSENSCHAFTSRAT, Stellungnahme zu Leistungsfähigkeit, Ressourcen und Größe universitätsmedizinischer Einrichtungen, Bremen, 2005.

  • Zuckerman, H., Merton, R. (1971), Patterns of evaluation in science. Institutionalisation, structure and functions of the referee system, Minerva, 9: 66–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer Institut for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Ulrich Schmoch & Torben Schubert

  2. Institute for Economic Policy Research, University of Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

    Torben Schubert

Authors
  1. Ulrich Schmoch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Torben Schubert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Torben Schubert.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schmoch, U., Schubert, T. Sustainability of incentives for excellent research — The German case. Scientometrics 81, 195–218 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-2127-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-2127-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation