IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v50y2021i10s0048733321001633.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of False Investigators on Grant Funding

Author

Listed:
  • Fong, Eric A.
  • Wilhite, Allen W.

Abstract

False investigators are researchers who have been listed on grant proposals as part of a research team even though there is no expectation that they will contribute to the research effort. Their use seems to be widespread even though their inclusion raises legal and ethical questions. Using data collected from the top 200 universities listed on U.S. News and World Report (2015), this manuscript investigates whether the use of false investigators impacts the distribution of research money and if so, by how much? Our analysis suggests they do, grants with false investigators receive more money, and while the size of this return varies with grant size, we find an average increase of about 70%. We also investigate how this influence is manifested; whether the increased funding is because false investigators apply for more grants, or if the presence of a false investigator increases the amount of funding received per proposal. We close with a discussion of policy issues and questions about research funding that remain unanswered.

Suggested Citation

  • Fong, Eric A. & Wilhite, Allen W., 2021. "The Impact of False Investigators on Grant Funding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:50:y:2021:i:10:s0048733321001633
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104366
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733321001633
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104366?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. Alison Abbott & David Cyranoski & Nicola Jones & Brendan Maher & Quirin Schiermeier & Richard Van Noorden, 2010. "Metrics: Do metrics matter?," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7300), pages 860-862, June.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    3. Ted von Hippel & Courtney von Hippel, 2015. "To Apply or Not to Apply: A Survey Analysis of Grant Writing Costs and Benefits," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-8, March.
    4. Halvorsen, Robert & Palmquist, Raymond, 1980. "The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 474-475, June.
    5. Wilhite, Allen & Fong, Eric A. & Wilhite, Seth, 2019. "The influence of editorial decisions and the academic network on self-citations and journal impact factors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1513-1522.
    6. Arthur M Michalek & Alan D Hutson & Camille P Wicher & Donald L Trump, 2010. "The Costs and Underappreciated Consequences of Research Misconduct: A Case Study," Working Papers id:2919, eSocialSciences.
    7. Paul J Roebber & David M Schultz, 2011. "Peer Review, Program Officers and Science Funding," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(4), pages 1-6, April.
    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. Conor O’Kane & Jing A. Zhang & Jarrod Haar & James A. Cunningham, 2023. "How scientists interpret and address funding criteria: value creation and undesirable side effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 799-826, August.
    2. Pfeil, Katharina & Necker, Sarah & Feld, Lars P., 2023. "Compliance management in research institutes: Boon or bane?," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 23/1, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    3. Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A., 2023. "Is there a risk of APC-driven guest authorship?," SocArXiv vhkd8, Center for Open Science.

    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. Bruce B. Svare, 2020. "A Cautionary Tale for Psychology and Higher Education in Asia: Following Western Practices of Incentivising Scholarship May Have Negative Outcomes," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 32(1), pages 94-121, March.
    2. Martin Thomas Falk & Markku Vieru, 2021. "Short-term hotel room price effects of sporting events," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(3), pages 569-588, May.
    3. Michele Campolieti, 2023. "An event study analysis of the effects of collective bargaining legislation on strike outcomes," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(2), pages 242-279, June.
    4. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Wolfgang Maennig & Felix J. Richter, 2013. "Urban Renewal after the Berlin Wall," Working Papers 049, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    5. Gatterer, Markus & Leonhardt, Heidi & Salhofer, Klaus & Morawetz, Ulrich, 2024. "The legacy of partible inheritance on farmland fragmentation: Evidence from Austria," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Patrick Baylis & Judson Boomhower, 2023. "The Economic Incidence of Wildfire Suppression in the United States," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 442-473, January.
    7. Seneshaw Tamru & Bart Minten & Dawit Alemu & Fantu Bachewe, 2017. "The Rapid Expansion of Herbicide Use in Smallholder Agriculture in Ethiopia: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(3), pages 628-647, July.
    8. Couttenier, Mathieu & Hatte, Sophie, 2016. "Mass media effects on non-governmental organizations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 57-72.
    9. Mahmut Yasar & David Lisner & Roderick Rejesus, 2012. "Bilateral trade impacts of temporary foreign visitor policy," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(3), pages 501-521, September.
    10. Ongena, Steven & Antoniou, Fabio & Delis, Manthos & Tsoumas, Christos, 2020. "Pollution permits and financing costs," CEPR Discussion Papers 15517, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Holt, Jared & Skali, Ahmed & Thomson, Russell, 2021. "The additionality of R&D tax policy: Quasi-experimental evidence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. Bronnmann, Julia & Asche, Frank & Pettersen, Ingrid Kristine & Sogn-Grundvåg, Geir, 2023. "Certify or not? The effect of the MSC certification on the ex-vessel prices for Atlantic cod in Norway," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    13. Rishika Rishika & Ashish Kumar & Ramkumar Janakiraman & Ram Bezawada, 2013. "The Effect of Customers' Social Media Participation on Customer Visit Frequency and Profitability: An Empirical Investigation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 108-127, March.
    14. Valentina Pieroni & Nicola Lattanzi & Massimo Riccaboni, 2024. "The dynamic impact of inter-firm network agreements," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 939-969, October.
    15. Gabriele Ruiu & Giovanna Gonano, 2020. "Religious Barriers to the Diffusion of Same-sex Civil Unions in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 1185-1203, December.
    16. Wright, Austin L. & Sonin, Konstantin & Driscoll, Jesse & Wilson, Jarnickae, 2020. "Poverty and economic dislocation reduce compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place protocols," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 544-554.
    17. Guido de Blasio & Daniela Vuri, 2019. "Effects of the Joint Custody Law in Italy," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 479-514, September.
    18. Graves Jennifer & McMullen Steven & Rouse Kathryn, 2018. "Teacher Turnover, Composition and Qualifications in the Year-Round School Setting," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-27, July.
    19. Alston Lee J. & Mueller Bernardo, 2018. "Priests, Conflicts and Property Rights: the Impacts on Tenancy and Land Use in Brazil," Man and the Economy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, June.
    20. Rabishankar Giri & Sabuj Kumar Chaudhuri, 2021. "Ranking journals through the lens of active visibility," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(3), pages 2189-2208, March.

    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:respol:v:50:y:2021:i:10:s0048733321001633. 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/respol .

    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.