Investigating returns to scope of research fields in universities

For policy-makers and managers of research organizations, improvement in performance is a constant objective. The potential presence of returns to scope of fields of research could influence decisions in planning the fields of activity of the research organization and the spatial positioning of its researchers in function of their specializations. We investigate the possible presence of returns to scope and the relation between scope of fields in an organization and intensity of interdisciplinary collaboration. The results, from analyzing the scientific collaborations of Italian university researchers over the years 2004–2008, seem to indicate that in general the scope of the research fields has no impact on the productivity of research or the intensity of interdisciplinary collaboration.