Brown Bag SEMinar+#3

On 26th November our forthcoming event of SEMinar+ series is focused on research grants. We will start with a research paper presentation by Elena Shakina, PhD. Her study uncovers the impact of internal research grants on the academic outcomes of a faculty (HSE sample). The second part of the seminar is devoted to the first community of practice experience during SEM BB SEMinars. Several faculty members will share their experience and insights about grant proposals and reports (RFBR, RSF grants). All faculty members and PhD students are very welcome to participate in the talk and the following discussion.

Agenda:
15:00 - 18:00 Coffee break
15:20 - 16:00 Research paper presentation
16:00 - 17:20 Community of Practice «Insights about grant proposals and reports (RFBR, RSF)»

Speaker: Elena Shakina, PhD
Topic: Internal Research Grants and Academic Productivity: Empirical Evidence from the Developing Research University (joint with Mariia Yudkevich)

Abstract: This study aims to discover the impact of remunerative and commitment-based incentives on the academic outcomes of a faculty. This analysis is relevant as it provides and understanding of the efficiency of incentive structures built into faculty contracts. By a faculty contract, we mean not just the labour agreement but the whole range of incentive tools offered to academic faculties in universities. Research grants are considered to be one of the most useful motivational tools incorporated in this kind of a contract. We contribute to the existing literature on the treatment effect of faculty motivational incentives by investigating a very specific case of internal grants offered by a university to its faculty, intended to reinforce their commitment to carry out good research.

This research is based on empirical analysis. The database comprises about 800 observations on granted and rejected applications from 2008 to 2012, based on administrative data on publication records from one of the leading Russian universities–the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE). The technique of regression discontinuity design allows us to estimate the treatment effect of individual research grants over last 5 years. As a result of this investigation, we shed some light on the efficacy of the HSE motivation policy towards academic staff. We found that while a temporary surge in research productivity might be expected from the incentives explicitly introduced in the internal grant system of HSE, we failed to find any evidence that faculty members perceive grants as an opportunity to substantially change their academic track or move towards more intensive and more productive research activities. This makes the internal grant system a not sustainable tool for a long-term motivational policy.

Who’s the speaker?

Elena Shakina is an assistant professor of the department of management SEM HSE. She is the co-founder and head of the International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy (HSE Campus in Perm, Campus in St. Petersburg). As a deputy dean of SCEM HSE she is responsible for organization of research and academic development. Her research interests lay in the areas of empirical corporate finance and intellectual capital.

You can find more information about speaker’s recent studies here: https://www.hse.ru/en/staff/eshakina#sci

Speakers**:

Elena Shakina, PhD, associate professor (department of management), head of IDLAB HSE

Adel Dalal, lecturer, postgraduate student (department of finance), research assistant at Centre for Interdisciplinary Basic Research HSE

Ekaterina Aleksandrova, PhD, associate professor (department of finance, department of economics), research manager/fellow at International Centre for Health Economics, Management, and Policy HSE

Evgeny Antipov, PhD, associate professor (department of management), research fellow at Centre for Interdisciplinary Basic Research HSE

Alexander Nesterov, PhD, assistant professor (department of economics), head of International Laboratory of Game Theory and Decision Making HSE

* RFBR - Russian Foundation for Basic Research (РФФИ), RSF -Russian Science Foundation (РНФ)

**The set of speakers during the CoP is a subject of change.

You are very welcome to attend!