Investigation of the impact of co-location: economies of scope and scale in biomedical and health research

调查共址的影响：生物医学和健康研究的范围经济和规模经济

基本信息

批准号：
MR/M008401/1
负责人：
Steven Wooding
金额：
$ 26.95万
依托单位：
RAND Europe
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2014 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FM008401%2F1
关键词：
Investigation impact co location economies

项目摘要

It is important to achieve the best outcomes from public sector investments in medical research. To do this, research funders need to understand where they should invest the limited funds they have available to maximise the outcomes from that investment. One consideration when deciding where to allocate funding is whether there are economies of scope and scale in biomedical research. Economies of scope are said to exist when undertaking two different activities in the same place is better value for money than undertaking the same two activities separately, e.g. teaching medicine in the same place as researching it. Economies of scale exist when the cost to do or produce something falls the greater the quantity produced in one place, e.g. the cost per MRI scan falls as the proportion of time a scanner is in use increases. In the context of public funding of medical research, where the research outputs will differ between projects and researchers, the concept of economies of scope is perhaps most relevant. If there are economies of scope or scale, then medical research funding would have greater impact when concentrated in a few locations. Conversely, if there are diseconomies of scope or scale then funding would be more productive if spread across numerous research units rather than being concentrated in a few. If there are no great economies or diseconomies, then research outputs per investment would be unaffected by the number of units that funding is spread across. Economies of scale and scope in biomedical research could come from two main sources. It could result from the physical infrastructure, such as expensive research equipment, or other support services, which can be provided more cost effectively where a large group of people are working together. Or it could result from the interactions between researchers, enabling them to work together better and draw on advice from colleagues. However, new technologies are making both the sharing of infrastructure, and long distance communication, easier so may mean that these effects are decreasing in importance. Current evidence is inconclusive on whether there are economies of scope and scale and if so, what causes them. Therefore, this project aims to address three main questions:1.Do economies of scope and scale exist in medical research: is it better to support research in a few places rather than spread support across many places?2.What is the source of any economies of scope and scale: use of costly and specific infrastructure, or interactions affected by location?3.Where and if benefits (or dis-benefits) exist as a result of colocation in terms of the interactions facilitated, how do these differ between different researchers (early career and later career, basic and clinical, different research areas etc.), research stages and how have they changed over time (if at all)?We will do this in three stages:1. A thorough, rapid evidence review of the work that has already been done on this subject;2. Interviews with researchers across a range of locations, and detailed study of a few specific locations where researchers have recently moved into new research centres to understand the effect of their new environment on their research and the way they work together;3. Development of an econometric model (or models) for economies of scope and scale, and investigation of whether the necessary data is available to test them.The project would make three contributions. First it will compile the existing evidence into a form that can be understood and used by policy makers, and disseminate that to them. Second it will develop new insights into the ways in which any economies of scope and scale function within biomedical research through the interviews and detailed analysis of specific locations. Third it would explore the feasibility of carrying out an econometric examination of the magnitude of the issue in the UK biomedical research context.

公共部门对医学研究的投资取得最佳成果非常重要。为此，研究资助者需要了解他们应该将有限的资金投资到哪里，以最大限度地提高投资成果。决定向何处分配资金时要考虑的一个因素是生物医学研究是否存在范围经济和规模经济。当在同一地点开展两项不同的活动比分别开展相同的两项活动更物有所值时，就存在范围经济。在同一地点教授医学和研究医学。当一个地方生产的数量越大，做某事或生产某物的成本就会下降，即存在规模经济。随着扫描仪使用时间比例的增加，每次 MRI 扫描的成本会下降。在医学研究公共资助的背景下，项目和研究人员之间的研究成果会有所不同，范围经济的概念可能是最相关的。如果存在范围经济或规模经济，那么医学研究经费集中在少数几个地点时会产生更大的影响。相反，如果存在范围或规模不经济的情况，那么如果将资金分散在众多研究单位而不是集中在少数几个研究单位，则会更有成效。如果没有巨大的经济或不经济，那么每项投资的研究产出将不会受到资金分布的单位数量的影响。生物医学研究的规模经济和范围经济可能来自两个主要来源。它可能来自物理基础设施，例如昂贵的研究设备或其他支持服务，当一大群人一起工作时，可以更经济有效地提供这些服务。或者它可能是研究人员之间互动的结果，使他们能够更好地合作并吸取同事的建议。然而，新技术使基础设施共享和长途通信变得更加容易，因此可能意味着这些影响的重要性正在下降。目前的证据对于是否存在范围经济和规模经济以及造成这些经济的原因尚无定论。因此，本项目旨在解决三个主要问题：1.医学研究是否存在范围经济和规模经济：支持少数地方的研究比分散支持多个地方更好吗？2.任何资助的来源是什么？范围和规模经济：使用昂贵且特定的基础设施，或受地点影响的互动？3.在促进互动方面，在何处以及如果存在因共置而带来的好处（或不利），这些好处（或坏处）在不同地点之间有何不同研究人员（早期职业和后期职业、基础和临床、不同研究领域等）、研究阶段以及它们随着时间的推移如何变化（如果有的话）？我们将分三个阶段进行：1。对已在该主题上完成的工作进行彻底、快速的证据审查；2．对多个地点的研究人员进行访谈，并对研究人员最近搬入新研究中心的一些特定地点进行详细研究，以了解新环境对其研究的影响以及他们的合作方式；3．开发范围经济和规模经济的计量经济模型（或多个模型），并调查是否有必要的数据可用于测试它们。该项目将做出三项贡献。首先，它将现有证据汇编成政策制定者可以理解和使用的形式，并将其传播给他们。其次，它将通过对特定地点的采访和详细分析，对生物医学研究中范围经济和规模经济的运作方式形成新的见解。第三，它将探讨在英国生物医学研究背景下对问题的严重程度进行计量经济学检查的可行性。