The impact of research grant funding on scientific productivity

In this paper, we estimate the impact of receiving an NIH grant on subsequent publications and citations. Our sample consists of all applications (unsuccessful as well as successful) to the NIH from 1980 to 2000 for standard research grants (R01s). Both OLS and IV estimates show that receipt of an NIH research grant (worth roughly $1.7 million) leads to only one additional publication over the next five years, which corresponds to a 7% increase. The limited impact of NIH grants is consistent with a model in which the market for research funding is competitive, so that the loss of an NIH grant simply causes researchers to shift to another source of funding.

Research Highlights► We estimate the impact of NIH grant receipt on research output. ► Receiving an award modestly increases applicant research productivity. ► We find little evidence that an award displaces other NIH funding. ► Researchers may have access to other funding sources for high quality projects.