Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A spin-out company commercialises university research and creates measurable employment.
- Is an instance
A clinical-trial outcome reduces NHS treatment costs by a documented amount per patient.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Citing gross-value-added figures from a study with no attribution methodology disclosed.
- Not an instance
Counting only license revenue as the full economic effect of a research portfolio.
Editorial commentary
Economic impact of research is often quantified through return-on-investment studies, gross-value-added estimates, jobs created or supported, license and royalty revenues, spin-out companies, and cost savings to public services. Methods include macroeconomic input-output modelling (e.g. BiGGAR Economics studies for UK universities), payback approaches (Wellcome Trust), and case-based evidence aggregation. Critics note that economic impact estimates can be highly sensitive to attribution assumptions and that intangible or long-tail effects are systematically under-counted.
References
- Buxton M, Hanney S 'Wellcome Trust payback model' 1996. BiGGAR Economics 'Economic impact of the Russell Group' 2018. NESTA innovation studies.
Also known as
Economic impact of research
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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