Mission heterogeneity and performance of public research organizations

Bibliographic Data

ID17600348
AuthorsMaryam Ghorbankhani (0000-0002-1028-3724, Birkbeck Business School, Birkbeck, University of London , Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HX, corresponding author), Federica Rossi (0000-0002-5869-4469, Dipartimento di Economia ‘Marco Biagi’, Universita’ di Modena e Reggio Emilia , Via Jacopo Berengario 51, 41121 Modena), Eva M De La Torre (0000-0002-8415-6568, Department of Economics and Public Finance. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales , Avenida Francisco Tomás y Valiente, 5. Ciudad Universitaria Cantoblanco. 28049 Madrid)
Year2026
Publication date2026-03-13
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience and Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0302-3427 • E-ISSN: 1471-5430
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/scipol/scag025
OpenAlexW7155374857
LanguageEN
References cited58

Public research organizations (PROs) face growing pressures to demonstrate utility, user relevance, and industry connections. To this end, it is important to analyse their performance using indicators that capture the full breadth of their activities. This paper discusses how PROs engage in a variety of activities aligned with their missions and proposes implications for performance measurement. First, based on a scoping review of the literature on PROs’ performance, we find that studies focus on measuring effectiveness, efficiency, and impact using a narrow range of indicators that do not accurately reflect PROs’ breadth of activities and mission heterogeneity. Second, drawing on public data and 20 semi-structured interviews with 16 PROs in the UK, using qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics, we find that PROs’ activities extend beyond those captured by the typical indicators used in the literature and that PROs with different missions specialize in different activities

Content analysis · Qualitative property · Qualitative research · Innovation Policy and RD · Research, Science, and Academia · scientometrics and bibliometrics research

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