How Reorganizations of Public Research Laboratories Affect the Evolution of Scientific Activity and Production: A Case Study in Italy From 2000 to 2020

Abstract

Aiming to show how manifold reorganizations of public research organizations affect the evolution of research activity within labs, this study focuses on Italian Research Council (CNR), one of Europe’s largest public research organizations, from 2000 to 2020 to identify types of research developed and organizational strengths and weaknesses. The analysis suggests that, in line with the origin of the CNR, scientific research focuses mainly on research fields of natural sciences, such as chemical, life and physical sciences, with an increasing role of research in energy, engineering and mathematics. The case study also shows a high intensity of international collaboration of CNR within international research networks. Finally, analysis reveals the presence of highly productive researchers driven by self-determination mechanisms, though in the presence of shrinking public research lab budgets and organizational deficiencies. The research policy implications from the present analysis can be generalized to support organizational and managerial behavior of labs to improve scientific research in a context of shrinking public research budgets.