IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/infome/v12y2018i4p1312-1326.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decomposing inequality in research funding by university-institute sub-group: A three-stage nested Theil index

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Dengsheng
  • Yuan, Lili
  • Li, Ruoyun
  • Li, Jianping

Abstract

The inequality in research funding is an important issue, in which the measurement of inequality is the basis. The literature has mostly investigated the inequality in research funding by providing overall values of inequality but has rarely explored this topic through the internal structure of the overall inequality. In this paper, a three-stage nested Theil index is employed to decompose the overall inequality in research funding into the between and within components. Moreover, a decomposition framework of university-institute sub-group is constructed to investigate the inherent structure of overall inequality in research funding. The data from the National Natural Science Foundation of China between 2013 and 2017 at the individual researcher level are collected as empirical data. The empirical results indicate that the overall Theil index of research funding in China is 1.97 (equal to 0.87 in the Gini index), a value higher than in the United States but lower than in Japan. The decomposition results regarding the inequality in research funding indicate that the inequality within institutions dominates and contributes 80.0% of the overall inequality. Moreover, ‘Universities’ contributes more than ‘Institutes’ to the inequality, and the ‘World-class universities’ contributes the most among the six groups of the Within-B component.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Dengsheng & Yuan, Lili & Li, Ruoyun & Li, Jianping, 2018. "Decomposing inequality in research funding by university-institute sub-group: A three-stage nested Theil index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1312-1326.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:12:y:2018:i:4:p:1312-1326
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2018.10.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157718301640
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joi.2018.10.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guanghua Wan & Zhangyue Zhou, 2005. "Income Inequality in Rural China: Regression‐based Decomposition Using Household Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 107-120, February.
    2. Shorrocks, A F, 1980. "The Class of Additively Decomposable Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(3), pages 613-625, April.
    3. Aekapol Chongvilaivan & Jungsuk Kim, 2016. "Individual Income Inequality and Its Drivers in Indonesia: A Theil Decomposition Reassessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 79-98, March.
    4. Roberto Ezcurra & Pedro Pascual, 2005. "Cross-country disparities in welfare, 1970-1998," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 41-44.
    5. Dusan Paredes & Victor Iturra & Marcelo Lufin, 2016. "A Spatial Decomposition of Income Inequality in Chile," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(5), pages 771-789, May.
    6. Jianping Li & Yongjia Xie & Dengsheng Wu & Yuanping Chen, 2017. "Underestimating or overestimating the distribution inequality of research funding? The influence of funding sources and subdivision," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 55-74, July.
    7. Takahiro AKITA & Rizal Affandi LUKMAN & Yukino YAMADA, 1999. "Inequality In The Distribution Of Household Expenditures In Indonesia: A Theil Decomposition Analysis," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 37(2), pages 197-221, June.
    8. Cheng, Yuk-shing & Li, Sung-ko, 2006. "Income inequality and efficiency: A decomposition approach and applications to China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 8-14, April.
    9. Qiang Zhi & Tianguang Meng, 2016. "Funding allocation, inequality, and scientific research output: an empirical study based on the life science sector of Natural Science Foundation of China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(2), pages 603-628, February.
    10. Eric Hand, 2008. "222 NIH grants: 22 researchers," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7185), pages 258-259, March.
    11. Sotaro Shibayama, 2011. "Distribution of academic research funds: a case of Japanese national research grant," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 43-60, July.
    12. Takahiro Akita, 2003. "Decomposing regional income inequality in China and Indonesia using two-stage nested Theil decomposition method," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 37(1), pages 55-77, February.
    13. Wan, Guanghua, 2004. "Accounting for income inequality in rural China: a regression-based approach," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 348-363, June.
    14. Corie Lok, 2010. "Science funding: Science for the masses," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7297), pages 416-418, May.
    15. Yin, Zhifeng & Liang, Zheng & Zhi, Qiang, 2018. "Does the concentration of scientific research funding in institutions promote knowledge output?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1146-1159.
    16. Bourguignon, Francois, 1979. "Decomposable Income Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 901-920, July.
    17. Guan, Jiancheng & Ma, Nan, 2007. "China's emerging presence in nanoscience and nanotechnology: A comparative bibliometric study of several nanoscience `giants'," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 880-886, July.
    18. Xue Yang & Xin Gu & Yuandi Wang & Guangyuan Hu & Li Tang, 2015. "The Matthew effect in China’s science: evidence from academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(3), pages 2089-2105, March.
    19. Juan Antonio Duro, 2008. "Cross-country inequalities in welfare and its decomposition by Sen factors: the virtues of the Theil index," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(13), pages 1041-1045.
    20. L. Egghe & R. Rousseau, 1991. "Transfer principles and a classification of concentration measures," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 42(7), pages 479-489, August.
    21. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:4887-4890 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Jing Li & Hong Fang & Siran Fang & Sultana Easmin Siddika, 2018. "Investigation of the Relationship among University–Research Institute–Industry Innovations Using a Coupling Coordination Degree Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    23. Wu, Jiang, 2015. "Distributions of scientific funding across universities and research disciplines," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 183-196.
    24. Lili Yuan & Yanni Hao & Minglu Li & Chunbing Bao & Jianping Li & Dengsheng Wu, 2018. "Who are the international research collaboration partners for China? A novel data perspective based on NSFC grants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 401-422, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Long, Ruyin & Ren, Yuan & Wu, Meifen, 2022. "Differential decomposition of total-factor energy efficiency in Chinese coal mining cities considering environmental constraints: A dynamic and static perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Fang Yao & Kai Zhao & Xiaoyu Xu & Wenfei Liu, 2022. "Can Corruption Facilitate Industrial Structure Upgrade in China? The Moderating Role of Government-Business Relationships," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    3. Shaoqi Sun & Yuanli Xie & Yunmei Li & Kansheng Yuan & Lifa Hu, 2022. "Analysis of Dynamic Evolution and Spatial-Temporal Heterogeneity of Carbon Emissions at County Level along “The Belt and Road”—A Case Study of Northwest China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Xu, Aiting & Qiu, Keyang & Zhu, Yuhan, 2023. "The measurements and decomposition of innovation inequality: Based on Industry − University − Research perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Francis Mensah & Guoqing Shi & Qingnian Yu & Emmanuel Bosompem Boadi & Francis Akorful Andam & Nicholas Anarfi Bofah, 2022. "The Impact of Resettlement in Urban Market Redevelopment on Income Inequality, Its Determinants, and Implications for the Resettled Population: Applying the Kejetia New Market Exemplar, Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Wang, You & Gong, Xu, 2022. "Analyzing the difference evolution of provincial energy consumption in China using the functional data analysis method," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    7. Benna Da & Yunhua Wu & Wuyuntana Bao, 2024. "Analysis of Spatial Distribution and Spillover Effects of Fertilizer Application Intensity in Inner Mongolia, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, May.
    8. Fernanda Morillo, 2019. "Collaboration and impact of research in different disciplines with international funding (from the EU and other foreign sources)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 807-823, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Takahiro Akita & Sachiko Miyata, 2018. "Spatial Inequalities in Indonesia, 1996–2010: A Hierarchical Decomposition Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 829-852, August.
    2. Takahiro Akita & Sachiko Miyata, 2020. "Urban and Rural Dimensions of the Role of Education in Inequality: A Comparative Analysis between Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines," Working Papers EMS_2020_04, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    3. Miguel A. Márquez & Elena Lasarte & Marcelo Lufin, 2019. "The Role of Neighborhood in the Analysis of Spatial Economic Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 245-273, January.
    4. Takahiro Akita, 2002. "Regional Income Inequality In Indonesia And The Initial Impact Of The Economic Crisis," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 201-222.
    5. Jianping Li & Yongjia Xie & Dengsheng Wu & Yuanping Chen, 2017. "Underestimating or overestimating the distribution inequality of research funding? The influence of funding sources and subdivision," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 55-74, July.
    6. Aekapol Chongvilaivan & Jungsuk Kim, 2016. "Individual Income Inequality and Its Drivers in Indonesia: A Theil Decomposition Reassessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 79-98, March.
    7. Takahiro Akita & Sachiko Miyata, 2008. "Urbanization, educational expansion, and expenditure inequality in Indonesia in 1996, 1999, and 2002," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 147-167.
    8. Takahiro Akita & Sachiko Miyata, 2023. "Education and Expenditure Inequality in Indonesia and the Philippines: A Comparative Analysis in an Urban and Rural Dual Framework," Working Papers EMS_2023_03, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    9. Ge Wang & Juan Yang & Dinghua Ou & Yalan Xiong & Ouping Deng & Qiquan Li, 2019. "Temporal-Spatial Variations and Regional Disparities in Land-Use Efficiency, and the Response to Demographic Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-22, August.
    10. Takahiro Akita, 2017. "Educational Expansion and the Role of Education in Expenditure Inequality in Indonesia Since the 1997 Financial Crisis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 1165-1186, February.
    11. Takahiro Akita, 2024. "The Roles of Location and Education in Income Inequality: An Analytical Framework," Working Papers EMS_2024_06, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    12. Chi, Wei, 2012. "Capital income and income inequality: Evidence from urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 228-239.
    13. Takahiro Akita & Alit Pirmansah, 2011. "Urban Inequality in Indonesia," Working Papers EMS_2011_04, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    14. Jon Olaskoaga-Larrauri & Ricardo Alaez-Aller & Eneko Arrospide-Zabala, 2011. "Determinant factors in the convergence of welfare effort in OECD countries: a decomposition of the Theil indices," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(13), pages 1263-1266.
    15. Gravier-Rymaszewska, Joanna & Tyrowicz, Joanna & Kochanowicz, Jacek, 2010. "Intra-provincial inequalities and economic growth in China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 237-258, September.
    16. Joonha Jeon & So Young Kim, 2018. "Is the gap widening among universities? On research output inequality and its measurement in the Korean higher education system," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 589-606, March.
    17. Guogang Wang & Mingli Wang & Jimin Wang & Chun Yang, 2015. "Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Rural Economic Development in Eastern Coastal China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Lwin Lwin Aung & Peter Warr, 2021. "Decomposing changes in inequality: Evidence from Myanmar," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1172-1196, August.
    19. Takahiro Akita, 2000. "Decomposing Regional Income Inequality Using Two-Stage Nested Theil Decomposition Method," Working Papers EMS_2000_02, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    20. Guanghua Wan, 2006. "Poverty Accounting by Factor Components: With an Empirical Illustration Using Chinese Data," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-63, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:12:y:2018:i:4:p:1312-1326. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.