The Evolution of a National Research Funding System: Transformative Change Through Layering and Displacement

Abstract

This article outlines the evolution of a national research funding system over a timespan of more than 40 years and analyses the development from a rather stable Humboldt inspired floor funding model to a complex multi-tiered system in constant flux. Based on recent contributions to Historical Institutionalism it is shown how the system has changed gradually along a number of dimensions through layering-and displacement processes and how the sum of mainly minor adjustments over time has led to a radical transformation of the funding system as a whole. It is also shown that the traditional academically oriented research council system has been remarkable resilient against far-reaching restructuring attempts. This change resistance has, however, on several occasions led the political system to implement change through other funding channels which for prolonged periods of time has made the councils somewhat marginalized.

Concentration of Danish research funding on individual researchers and research topics: Patterns and potential drivers

“…As outlined in Section 4, the share of project funding has increased from less than a third of the total research funding to nearly half. Alongside this, grant sizes have grown and success rates have dropped (Aagaard, 2017). An explicit policy aim has here been to try to raise the quality of Danish research through increased competition and by deliberately amplifying central elements in the institutional bias towards concentration.…”

“…Hence, when private foundations have specific topical interests and establish and support visible, impactful research groups, this has self-reinforcing positive and negative feedback effects for the system as a whole. This trend may be even further amplified when the most successful grant recipients are subsequently rewarded with additional institutional funding via performance-based internal funding allocation criteria (Aagaard, 2017). In this way, the cycle may continue and perpetuate even further concentration.…”

Performance-based Research Funding in Denmark: The Adoption and Translation of the Norwegian Model

“…For at least four decades, a central issue on the Danish research policy agenda has been how to design a core funding system that not only takes student numbers and historical criteria into account in the allocation of resources. In line with general international trends, the funding of the Danish universities was from the post-WW2 years to the late 1970s almost totally dominated by core funding which initially were distributed equally between research and teaching assignments (Aagaard, 2017). However, with the ever-growing student uptake the political system became concerned with the fact that research priorities increasingly became side effects of policy decisions related to education.…”

“…Funding constitutes one of the main channels through which authority is exercised over research. Changes in the design of funding systems can accordingly be expected to have significant effects on the production of scientific knowledge (Whitley, Gläser & Engwall, 2010) and a detailed understanding of the design and effects of national research funding mechanisms is therefore vital (Aagaard, 2017). This is not least the case in relation to performance based research funding system (PBRFS) which during the latest decades have been introduced in more and more countries and which in most cases have been strongly contested (Hicks, 2012).…”

Development of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program Since 1990

“…Based on this definition, I believe that although this area of research is centered around macro-level systems, the Gradual Change Framework can be applied to government programs, because despite their micro size, government programs contain rules that can be predictably legitimized by a third party. This opinion is also supported by authors, such as Andriosopoulos and Silvestre (2017), Banting (2014), Béland and Myles (2012), Aagaard (2017), and Henig (2008), who have applied institutional theories onto micro-level systems like government policies and programs. Therefore, for this thesis, the term institution will be narrowed to refer to government programs.…”