Economic Value Of Research Research Articles

The economic value of research in managing invasive hydrilla in Florida public lakes

Weber MA, Wainger LA, Harms NE, Nesslage GM. 2020. The economic value of research in managing invasive hydrilla in Florida public lakes. Lake Reserv Manage. XX:XX–XX. Decisions on how to allocate research funds can be informed by evaluating the benefits of research, yet past spending is rarely analyzed to gain insights for effective research allocation. We used a case study to evaluate whether research into nonnative invasive plants improved management of herbicide-resistant hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes (KCOL), Florida, USA. We applied a retrospective benefit–cost analysis to quantify the net economic benefits of invasive control informed by government-supported research, relative to a scenario without research funding. Using conservative assumptions, we estimated net benefits of 11 yr of research (1999–2009) and 5 yr of improved hydrilla management as $19.5 million (2017 dollars) with a benefit–cost ratio of 3.8, including avoided ecosystem service losses to angler and nonangler lake users. These benefits were about 2.2 times the annual value of recreational fishing in the KCOL. Sensitivity analysis indicated that positive net benefits were generally robust to uncertainty regarding the hydrilla intrinsic growth rate and treatment costs in the absence of research-informed protocols. We have likely underestimated research benefits because we lumped costs from multiple programs and did not measure benefits accruing to nonusers of lakes. To enable future retrospective economic analyses, we suggest some improvements in record keeping. Our findings of positive net benefits of research may be representative of cases where relatively modest research investment in invasive species control is likely to protect widely appreciated ecosystem services.

The politics of research impact: academic perceptions of the implications for research funding, motivation and quality

There is growing interest in demonstrating the societal and economic value of research around the world with the UK and Australia at the forefront of these developments. Characterised as an ‘impact agenda’, impact policies have incited debate amongst the academic community and beyond. On the one hand, the edifying and reinforcing effects of impact can be seen to provide greater visibility about the use of public investment in research, whilst, on the other concerns about the subsequent and unintended effects on the nature and quality of research and research cultures, have contributed to a discourse which was (in the very beginning at least) one dominated by resistance. We draw on a qualitative analysis of interviews with UK and Australian mid-senior career academics (n = 51) which explored academic perceptions for resisting an impact agenda, to describe a range of perceived effects on research funding, motivation and quality. We find a persistent perception that impact favours and prioritises ‘types’ of research, leading to a concern that this will reduce funding for certain disciplines. We also note how academics perceived deleterious effects on motivation, culture, capacity and the quality of research. Where impact was seen to ‘direct’ or ‘drive’ research, we discuss how some academics suggested they would re-orientate their work, often at the expense of quality. Indeed, misconceptions about the very meaning of ‘impact’ appear to persist alongside varied intepretations of impact policies and mixed perceptions about how impact is considered in practice with respect to funding decisions. In addition, we posit that extrinsic motivations for impact are ‘crowding out’ intrinsic motivations of academics, altering perceptions of self-determination. This is further compounded by the growing politicisation of knowledge which in turn creates an ideological barrier to engagement. If impact is to be embraced and sustained at scale, institutions must target and harness a wider range of intrinsic motivations and epistemic responsibilities, improving academics’ abilities to respond to the impact agenda in addition to working with, not against those who create policy.

The Evolution of Railway Research and Development at a Heavy Haul Railway

The economic value of research has been well demonstrated on the BHP Iron Ore heavy haul railroad. The research began when the considerable expansion that occurred soon after the start of operations led to accelerated component deterioration. This raised the possibility of having to curtail production. The paper describes how the nature and direction of the research activities have changed over time, with the programmes becoming more proactive rather than reactive.

New Methods for Estimating Business Markets

Market research, in business markets and elsewhere, is performed to provide information about the market. The low level of research expenditures in business markets reflects both the low quality of information available and the difficulty involved in evaluating the quality and value of that information. This paper treats three methods for addressing industrial marketing research problems: Decomposed Error Analysis (DEA), to assess the likely accuracy of research; Analysis of Plural Estimates (APE), and approach to combine research methods; and Partial Conditioning of Consequences (PCC), an approach to determine the economic value of research. A short case is included with each method illustrating the value of that method in practice.

Optimal Controls for a Single Species Fishery and the Economic Value of Research

Mathematical proofs and analyses of solution methods are presented for determining optimal policies for the management of a single species fishery under equilibrium conditions. Previous intuitive arguments for solution of optimal policies controlling mesh size and fishing rate given complete information are explicitly proven. The analysis is extended to the case where some of the parameters describing the dynamics of the population are known only imprecisely to the manager. Using probability distributions for those unknown parameter values the problem is cast as a stochastic program where expected sustained net revenues from the fishery are maximized. The associated problem of optimal allocation of research resources under uncertainty conditions is considered by evaluating the direct value of such information to management activities.Examples and algorithms are presented for the class of problems discussed.

Maximization of the economic value of research through quantifying the relations between research and the market

A tentative planning and resource allocation system for product-oriented research in large centralized research laboratories is described. The system has been developed and tested on the basis of a number of case studies. It can be used as an information system providing the research organization with research goals and their economic value and also to recommend which research project funding patterns have the greatest value to the company. The system is named QUESTAR (Quantitative Utility Evaluation Suggesting Targets for the Allocation of Resources) and has been developed in cooperation with Abt Associates, Management Consultants of Cambridge, Massachusetts.