The UK Research Assessment Exercise: Performance Measurement and Resource Allocation

Abstract

This paper is a personal reflection on the nature and implications of research assessment in the UK. It reflects on the extent to which the dual functions of performance measurement and resource allocation interact. It provides a description of the 2001 and 2008 Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) in the United Kingdom (UK). It also refers to the developments undertaken at the time of writing to develop the successor exercise – the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The paper illustrates the changes that have taken place over time in order to address perceived weaknesses in the structures of the RAE that have led to particular types of game playing. The RAE is a form of management control that has achieved its success by the alignment of individual and institutional interests. Success in the RAE produces both financial and reputational gains for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) that they are willing to pay for. Hence, the RAE has provided financial gains for academics who can deliver success. The peer‐evaluation process in the UK research assessment is a key characteristic of the UK approach. While this is seen as expensive, it has maintained the legitimacy of the RAE. The accounting and finance academic community has engaged with the exercise and retained some control over the assessment process. A question is raised as to whether UK accounting and finance is likely to be subsumed in larger Business School submissions in the future.