Crowdfunding as Donations to Entrepreneurial Firms

The bulk of today's (“preorder-,” “reward-,” “gift-,” and “donation-based”) crowdfunding raises funds for small, private entrepreneurial ventures without granting funders private claims to the projects’ income or the ability to guarantee the realization and delivery of project outcomes. We theorize and show empirically – via a mixed-method approach applied to a representative and remarkably informative case – that the payoff structure for crowdfunders, akin to a public good contribution problem, leads to the tangible value of main project outputs exerting little influence on contributions to crowdfunding. This then raises the question of which funder motivations fund seekers may have to address to crowdfund their projects. We demonstrate the especially large role of non-pecuniary motivations and pinpoint three particular motivations that profit-seeking entrepreneurs may stimulate to be financed through crowdfunding. The findings hold important implications for entrepreneurs’ crowdfunding strategies, platform design, and our understanding of how this funding institution works in general. The study also adds to emerging research on the implications of the public good nature of crowdfunding.     

CITPEVS:一个评估中国IT项目成功的工具

介绍了国际项目管理领域在项目成功的衡量以及项目成功关键因素方面的研究,分析了这些研究在中国IT项目应用中的不足,综合考虑了中国的具体环境和IT项目的特殊性,以及未来发展的一些趋势,对PEVS进行了修改,提出了一个评估中国IT项目成功的工具CITPEVS,来帮助中国的IT项目经理判断项目是否正步入正轨并将取得成功。     

Funding model and creativity in science: Competitive versus block funding and status contingency effects

In many countries the scientific funding system is shifting from an internal block funding model toward a competitive project funding model. However, there is growing concern that the competitive project funding system favors relatively safe, conventional projects at the expense of risky, novel research. It is important to assess different funding models in order to design better funding systems for science. This paper empirically tests for differences in the novelty of funded outputs between internal block funding and competitive project funding, in the setting of Japan, where both funding models play a significant role. Combining survey data from a large sample of research projects in Japan and bibliometric information about the publications produced from these projects, we find that projects funded by competitive funds on average have higher novelty compared to those funded by internal block funds. However, such positive effects only hold for researchers with high status, such as senior and male researchers. In contrast, compared to internal block funding, competitive project funding has a negative relation to novelty for low status scientists (especially junior and female researchers). The findings suggest that the competitive project selection procedure is less receptive to novel ideas from researchers with low academic status and therefore discourages their novel research. These findings can serve as a warning about potential biases in competitive funding allocation procedures and suggest the importance of secure stable funding for allowing researchers with low status to pursue their novel ideas.     

早期阶段创新项目的财政资助政策研究

在激励理论的分析框架下对早期阶段创新项目的财政资助政策进行了研究,主要结论包括:1)为担保创业企业家的努力投入,创新企业必须投入足够的自有资本才能吸引创业资本的进入,因此政府的财政资助可以弱化创新企业的财富约束,从而激励更多的创新活动;2)要求按比例分享项目收益的有偿资助方式帕累托劣于无偿资助,而仅要求固定回报的有偿资助则是激励中性的。根据上述结论进一步解释了创业投资家在投资项目选择上的阶段偏好现象,并分析了天使投资的矛盾性,证明了在对早期阶段创新项目的扶持中,公共资本起着不可替代的作用。     

The ex ante assessment of knowledge spillovers: Government R&D policy, economic incentives and private firm behavior

This paper investigates the role of government R&D subsidy programs in stimulating knowledge spillovers. R&D subsidies are an effective public policy instrument when knowledge spillovers exist yet ex ante it is difficult to identify projects that have the greatest potential to increase innovation and economic growth. This paper derives a set of project and firm attributes that the literature finds generate knowledge spillovers and uses data on project proposals to estimate the degree to which a government R&D program conforms. We find that projects that were awarded R&D subsidies were more likely to have attributes such as participation in new research joint ventures and connections to universities and other firms. Following the post-award activities of firm, we find that receipt of a government R&D subsidy increased the funding from other sources when compared to firms that were not awarded funding.     

重点研发计划立项分析及对科技计划管理的启示

针对国家科技计划在"十三五"期间改革后形成的5类计划之一的重点研发计划,基于2016-2019年9月完成的3批立项项目有关信息,从不同领域立项数和立项资助金额、牵头承担单位、立项区域分布等层面进行对比分析.结果 发现:国家对重点研发计划项目资助的力度和强度,除了基础配套领域,其他领域每年都有新的类型资助项目增加,社会环境领域项目数和经费数每年都排第一,高新技术领域次之,基础研究领域的重点专项投入最少,农业科技领域重点专项的投入不多且年均下降幅度最大,基础研究、农业科技领域的立项数和经费数明显低于前两个领域;与科研院所、企业相比,高校牵头承担项目数最多,项目平均经费却最低,这与高校牵头基础研究领域项目最多有一定关系,科研院所项目的 总经费和平均经费最高,企业的某单项经费最高;资助项目多数分布在北京、上海、广东、江苏等经济发达地区,北京的项目数约是排第二的上海的四倍.基于研究结果,对重点研发计划管理提出充分发挥产学研协同创新效应、促进区域间互补协调发展、深挖牵头承担单位潜能等建议,同时对国家科技计划管理提出加强顶层设计、提高研发起点和评审层次、引领科技发展方向、增设平台咨询服务功能以及以成果转化倒逼高质量实施等对策建议.     

The impact of public funding on science valorisation: an analysis of the ERC Proof-of-Concept Programme

Governments and public agencies are increasingly keen to support the translation of scientific discoveries into commercial and societal applications through science valorisation funding, as a way to enhance progress and inclusive growth. In this paper, we use grant-level data from the European Research Council Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programme, in order to assess the impact of public funding on a broad set of science valorisation outcomes, including licensing, spinoff formation, R&D collaborations, consulting and access to follow-on funding. We employ an instrumental variable approach to compare the valorisation outcomes of projects that obtained an ERC PoC grant to a group of projects that applied to the PoC scheme but were not funded. We find that the programme was effective in fostering the early valorisation of scientific discoveries by all measures of success that we employed. Overall, thus, our findings speak in favour of this type of policy instrument as a catalyst to accelerate the transition of scientific breakthroughs towards practical applications.     

航天项目研制过程中项目经费风险管控研究

   航天研制项目通常是复杂系统工程,具有研制周期长、参研单位性质多样、不确定因素多、经费预算调整难度大、研制和经费管控的不可预测性高等特点,本文针对国内外航天研制项目经费管理存在的问题和相关研究的缺陷,以航天研制项目过程中经费风险监控与处置问题为对象,研究建立全过程经费风险评估模型与风险评估体系,以及经费风险因素的有效识别、评估方法和管控措施。首先,在分析航天研制项目特点和风险管控内容的基础上,识别和详尽分析了航天研制项目包含的技术设计、研制生产、管理决策、人力资源和研制环境等五项经费风险因素,建立了航天研制项目全过程经费风险评估体系。然后,基于经费管控过程分析法,提出由风险设计、风险识别、风险分析、风险措施以及风险监控等模块组成的风险管控模型,这五个模块既相对独立又内在关联。随后,以确保航天项目成功研制条件下的经费风险控制成本最低为目标,研究提出并详细说明了航天项目研制过程中基于模型的经费风险规避、转移、缓解、利用等管控方法,详尽探讨了系统化管控、标准化管控、防御策划、人力激发和预警系统等具体经费风险管控措施,详细分析了风险因素、风险识别、处置方法和管控措施的对应关系,研究表明：这些措施与风险模型中的风险识别模块关联性最强。最后,结合嫦娥四号中继星——“鹊桥”项目的经费管控案例,介绍了项目特点、主要管控措施和管控成效,验证了本文所提经费风险管控措施的正确性和有效性。本文研究结论认为,风险设计是实现经费风险管控中的核心部分,只有在精准地实现了风险识别的前提下,管控措施才能得以顺利运行。本文研究成果在具体项目中实践得到了两个重要启示：一是航天项目经费管控要置前行动,在实施过程中要前移;二是在体系化的管理中,要重视风险设计的迭代、循环分析。本文研究成果及其在实践中的使用验证,充分表明了本文研究对未来项目特别是航天项目有效管理,具有重要现实意义和工程价值。     

The funding-productivity-gender nexus in science,a multistage analysis

This paper contributes to the literature on the observed research funding and scientific productivity gender gap in science. On the basis of very detailed information for a sample of 276 academics at the University of Turin over a ten year period, we develop a robust new model that takes into account the three main stages of the funding-productivity nexus: applying for a grant, successful fund raising and conducting the research, to investigate at which stage the gender gap emerges. In the model, we control for differences – not previously examined together - in the time allocated to teaching, administration and child care, which might moderate the gender effect. Using a Two-Stage Least Square (2SLS) model we control, for selection into funding, endogeneity of career progress and endogeneity of funding success, and find, first, that researchers who apply for grants are active in teaching and administration and show persistent funding application behaviour, but find no evidence of a significant gender bias; second, when we control for application selection, the negative gender correlation with funding acquisition becomes stronger, while teaching is negatively correlated to the amount of funding raised; and, third, controlling for selection and reverse causality, we find that funding is not associated to higher research productivity. At all stages of the funding-productivity nexus we find negative, albeit insignificant, secondary gender effects associated with administrative tasks, but less so with teaching. In the research impact-quality estimations we provide evidence of a ‘motherhood penalty’ for female academics with young children who did not apply for funding (including evidence of a causal effect). In line with the literature, we find that, after controlling for children, female researchers are less productive in terms of publications, but not in terms of research quality or impact.     

Public selection and financing of R&D cooperative projects: Credit versus subsidy funding

In this article we develop an analytical model of the selection process for R&D cooperative projects, to study the factors that motivate public project selection and corresponding funding, using two different financial instruments: subsidies and credits. For this purpose, we propose a three stage empirical strategy to analyse the differential individual effects of several factors on the decisions taken by the public agency. This analysis is based on project level data from cooperative R&D project calls under the Spanish PROFIT initiative, for the period 2000-2003. The main results show that the public agency uses the two financial instruments to address different objectives. First, some projects close to the market are well supported through credits, while basic research projects receive only selective support in the form of subsidies. Second, there is significant diversity in the selection and funding of technological areas. Third, regarding the explicit goal of fostering cooperation, the public agency selectively favours partnerships with universities and technology institutes through the award of subsidies. However, there seems to be less incentive for large consortia. Fourth, there are significant regional differences among financed projects and, also, our data show sharp yearly fluctuations.     

经费规模与科研产出——基于NSFC资助政策“净效应”的分析

科学研究离不开稳定持续的经费投入,科学合理的科研经费配置对提高科学基金资助成效尤为重要。采用双重差分（DID）方法,对NSFC面上项目2011年资助政策变化进行分析,检验了剔除项目不相关产出后经费增加对科研产出的影响,从而验证经费变化的政策“净效应”。研究发现：科学基金经费增加显著提升了科研产出数量和质量。而剔除不相关产出考虑政策“净效应”后,经费增加对项目产出质量提升更显著。通过异质性分析发现：经费规模增加对科研产出影响的政策“净效应”存在着“强者恒强”的作用,且中等规模团队在经费增加政策中受益更多。为进一步提高科研经费配置成效,可适当增加经费规模,引导科研人员“重质而非冲量”学术发表行为;科学基金针对不同人群实行精细化、差异化资助,提高资助政策精准化程度;进一步完善科学基金成果管理,应更加关注项目的实际产出。     

Science transformed? A comparative analysis of ‘societal relevance’ rhetoric and practices in 14 Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence

One of the most hotly debated ideas in science studies is the claim that contemporary science is in the midst of a transformation. While ‘transformationalist’ arguments and concepts vary, their core principle is that the norms, values and practices that have enforced the separation of science from society are being challenged by new expectations that scientists pursue closer connections with industry, government and/or civil society, and address research questions of immediate value to non-academic partners. While many major funding agencies have embraced this idea and now pressure scientists to enhance the ‘societal relevance’ of their work, the impact of these changes on scientific practices is still unclear. This paper reports findings from a comparative meso-level analysis of 14 large Canadian research networks funded by an agency with an explicit transformationalist mandate – the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) programme. Documents and web communications from these 14 NCEs, as well as from the central programme administration office, are analysed and compared to key transformationalist concepts, such as Mode 2 science, post-normal science, the triple helix model, academic capitalism and strategic science. We find that transformationalist ideas have a strong rhetorical presence across the 14 NCE projects and the central office, but that a great deal of inconsistency and confusion exists at the level of implementation and assessment of outcomes. Easily quantifiable outputs, such as the commercialization of research findings, are favoured over softer qualitative outcomes, such as public engagement and knowledge sharing. We conclude by arguing that the NCE programme is having an observable impact on the rhetoric of science, but any resulting transformations in practice are incremental rather than radical.     

In the eyes of the beholder: The effect of participant diversity on perceived merits of collaborative innovations

Technological innovations often involve collaboration among firms from diverse industries. Existing literature has largely viewed participant diversity as a conduit for non-redundant information or complementary resources, thereby affecting the ex-post outcomes of innovation projects. However, it is seldom examined how projects are initially evaluated during the resource competition stage. In this study, we develop a theory of diversity as a cognitive primer, asking how collaborators from diverse backgrounds may affect external reviewers’ ex-ante evaluation of potential merits of an innovation project. We argue that there are two logics at work in the process of evaluating innovations: the logic of technological advancement and the logic of market value. When an innovation project involves firms from diverse industries, it may be perceived as having a fuzzier market identity, hence making it less appealing to reviewers who hold with the strong market value logic. However, the penalty associated with participant diversity should be less pronounced among reviewers who hold the technological advancement logic. We also expect the relationship between participant diversity and reviewers’ ratings to be moderated by project novelty and fuzziness of technology category. We find support for our hypotheses with a sample of collaborative innovation projects funded by the Advanced Technology Program of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.     

Knowledge to money: Assessing the business performance effects of publicly-funded R&D grants

UK Research Councils (UKRCs) spend around £3bn pa supporting R&D and innovation. We provide a comprehensive assessment of these grants on the performance of participating UK firms, using data on all projects funded by UKRCs over the 2004–2016 period and applying a propensity score matching approach. We exploit the richness of the data available in the Gateway to Research database by investigating the heterogeneous effect of these projects across several novel directions which have not been explored before. We find a positive effect on the employment and turnover growth of participating firms, both in the short and in the medium term. Exploring impacts across different types of firms we find stronger performance impacts for firms in R&D intensive industries and for smaller and less productive firms. We also consider how impacts vary depending on the characteristics of the funded research projects in terms of partners characteristics, receipt of other research grants and grant value. Finally, we focus on the different sources of grants, analysing in particular the evolution in the funding strategy of Innovate UK. Our results have implications for the extent and targeting of future Research Council funding both in the UK and elsewhere.     

The determinants of success of R&D projects: evidence from American-Israeli research alliances

Until 1997, a basic premise of Israeli R&D support programs had been the principle of neutrality—all eligible projects were funded. With a binding budget constraint, the government had to select the projects it funded and thus to depart from neutrality. An optimal departure would favor those projects that have less of a chance to succeed without support. In this paper, I examine the performance of government supported collaborative research projects. I find that size and organizational form affect the probability of technical success and duration to commercialization in a way that suggests departing from neutrality by preferring less established firms.     

农业科技成果转化资金项目管理系统的研发与应用

本文分析了农业科技成果转化资金项目管理的需求,说明了项目管理系统的子系统组成、系统架构及软件运行平台。农业科技成果转化资金项目管理系统实现了科技项目从申报、评审立项到监理验收的全过程信息化解决方案。该系统的开发与运行为各级科技项目管理部门的科技项目管理提供了可借鉴经验,是对我国科技计划项目信息化管理模式的有益探索。     

Openness in developing inter-organizational innovation

The paper describes empirical findings on how openness is realized in practical innovation projects involving different organizations. The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of how openness should be managed in the various forms of inter-organizational innovation development. The main research interest is in how openness is manifested in developing innovations with different organizations involved in inter-organizational innovation projects. Subsidiary research questions are: ‘What is open?’, ‘To whom is it open?’ and ‘How open is it?’. The study applied qualitative case study methodology, and empirical data were collected by semi-structured interviews with management personnel in 40 organizations in Finland and the Netherlands. The findings reveal that openness in innovation is a multifaceted issue that can have very different meanings in different contexts. In the context of the study, the answer to the first sub-question (‘What is open?’) is obvious. It is the innovation project; its input, process and outcome. As for ‘To whom is it open?’, interviewees made a clear distinction between projects with known actors and projects that may include unknown actors. Answering ‘How open is the project?’, one can distinguish between different projects according to which attribute best describes the openness of the project – readable, usable, or modifiable. Answers to the three sub-questions conceptualize the issue of openness in inter-organizational innovation development and can be considered theoretical conclusions of the study. By combining the answers, five characteristic levels of openness in inter-organizational innovation were derived as practical implications of the study for R&;D and innovation management.     

我国科学研究中的公共财政效率:低效与浪费——来自国家自然科学基金、社会科学基金项目产出的证据

由公共财政支持的科研项目必须承担公共受托责任,保证财政效率。我们依照科学程序选取了各29项以"政府"为研究对象的国家社科基金与自然科学基金项目,通过对结项成果的"论文数量"、"论文丰满度"、"他引频次"、"复合影响因子"和"下载频次"等5个指标财政效率的测算,发现科研项目是消耗公共资金的"巨兽",存在"边际效率递减"的和"低效、无效与挥霍"的不良现象。这启示我们:我国公共财政资助的科研经费利用水平低,相关部门对项目经费缺乏有效监管,科研资助单位之间缺乏必要的竞争与公共资金追责机制,科研资助的制度设计对"道德人"期望过高。要解决这些问题,需要改变"课题拜物教",树立结果导向的基本理念;实行成果公开,经费去向公示制度;改变政府既当"赞助商"、又当"裁判员"的现状,并成立科研项目评价事务所等。     

财政科研项目间接费用的激励约束机制研究

信用管理与间接费用挂钩是未来我国财政科研项目资金管理落实“放管服”要求的重要政策工具,其根本目的是优化财政科研项目间接费用管理、建立有效的激励约束机制。基于委托代理理论中的激励约束框架,对美国、英国和中国财政科研项目间接费用中的激励和约束机制分别展开分析,并在三个国家对比的基础上,构建引入信用管理后我国财政科研项目间接费用管理中的激励约束框架及关键点。     

参与或加入国际大科学工程(计划)经费投入模式刍议

"大科学工程"的组织建设能力标志着一个国家核心的、原始创新能力,也是一个国家制造工业水平的展现,是国家综合科技竞争力、经济竞争力的重要体现。进入21世纪,随着我国科技实力的提升,中国迫切需要以崭新的面貌和地位加入国际大科学合作。为进一步提高中国在国际大科学工程管理的参与能力,完善国际大科学工程的国内组织机制,为国内下阶段"以我为主"组织实施国际大科学工程积累组织管理经验,笔者结合中国参与的ITER计划、伽利略计划等国际科技合作计划的经费投入方式进行了比较研究。