University Research Efficiency: Breakdown by Type and Funding Source

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to research the efficiency of the top universities across the United States. Using data from the 2010s this paper studies the relationship between research output and the sources of funding of universities while also looking at university types. At the university level this paper measures output of patent applications, documents produced, and licensing revenue across eight years and 56 different universities. With an increase in reliance on university-led research as well as an increase in university and non-federal funding, this paper examines the shift and compares findings to those of Adams Griliches (1998). Running research outputs against R&D spending, this paper finds that universities that have a larger share of non-federal funding have larger output elasticities.