Dear Colleagues,
Ina Ganguli, a graduate student associate of the Davis Center will be presenting a seminar
this Friday on "Saving Soviet Science."
Please consider attending! RSVP to sbbi@hbs.edu<mailto:sbbi@hbs.edu>.
November 12, 2010 at 12 Noon, Baker 102
Ina Ganguli
Ph.D. candidate, Kennedy School, Harvard University
"Saving Soviet Science: The Impact of Grants When Government R&D Funding
Disappears"
SBBI Seminar Series: Science Based Business Initiative
Abstract: How do grants impact scientific productivity? I estimate the impact of a
large-scale grant program, funded by financier George Soros, that provided individual and
team-based grants to thousands of scientists following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
and the end of public funding for Soviet science. I match scientists to their publications
and locations using the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database and create a unique
scientist-level panel dataset. Using quasi-experimental methods facilitated by the grant
eligibility criteria, I show that the individual grants more than doubled researcher
publications and induced scientists to remain in the science sector. The team grant also
increased publications, suggesting an important role for complementarities in team
production of research. The team grant increased the likelihood of emigration, while the
individual grant tended to decrease emigration, but only in Moscow. These findings show
that grants significantly increase scientific productivity in a market in which there are
few alternate research funding opportunities. The results also show that policy levers can
play an important role in the adjustment process of labor markets after sharp economic
changes; in this case, relatively small amounts of funding can maintain participation in
the science sector and can impact "brain drain".
Bio: Ina Ganguli is a doctoral candidate in Public Policy at Harvard University.
Ina's primary research areas are labor economics and the economics of science and
innovation. Her current research examines the impact of grants and location on researcher
productivity. Ina holds a B.A. in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences from
Northwestern University, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.
To RSVP or for questions on a seminar or to join the mailing list or arrange parking,
please contact sbbi@hbs.edu<mailto:sbbi@hbs.edu>. Visit
http://www.hbs.edu/units/tom/seminars/2009/science/ for a schedule of future speakers. The
2010-2011 seminars are joint with Economics 2888hf: Economics of Science and Engineering
Workshop, Harvard University.
If you know of someone who would like to be added to the distribution list or if you would
like to be removed from the list, please let us know at any time.
---
Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
Harvard University
1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
T 617.495.4037
F 617.495.8319
http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu