Modelling the determination of research output in British universities

The paper begins by noting some of the recent proposals for restructuring research activity in British universities, mainly through a process of concentration of research resources. We then review the available evidence, which shows that there is little support for such concentration except in the most resource-intensive disciplines. Since there is little firm information about the shape of "research production functions', either for institutions or for the system as a whole, the core of the paper studies the factors likely to be important in such functions and investigates the consequences of particular functional forms. Finally, it is concluded that more research is needed to gain a better understanding of the research process in universities, and that in the meantime it would be unwise to embark on a wholesale restructuring of the system. © 1988.