Investing in Science

Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Research Infrastructures

Massimo Florio

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780262355971
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Science & Technology Public Policy
• Index: Biological Sciences

Large particle accelerators, outer space probes, genomics platforms: all are scientific enterprises managed through the new form of the research infrastructure, in which communities of scientists collaborate across nations, universities, research institutions, and disciplines. Such large projects are often publicly funded, with no accepted way to measure the benefits to society of these investments. In this book, Massimo Florio suggests the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of public investment in large and costly scientific projects.

The core concept of CBA of any infrastructure is to undertake the consistent intertemporal accounting of social welfare effects using the available information. Florio develops a simple framework for such accounting in the research infrastructure context and then offers a systematic analysis of the benefits in terms of the social agents involved. He measures the benefits to scientists, students, and postdoctoral researchers; the effect on firms of knowledge spillovers; the benefits to users of information technology and science-based innovation; the welfare effects on the general public of cultural services provided by RIs; and the willingness of taxpayers to fund scientific knowledge creation. Finally, Florio shows how these costs and benefits can be expressed in the form of stochastic net present value and other summary indicators.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Main Variables
• Introduction: Beyond Big Science, the Research Infrastructure Paradigm
• 1. The Evaluation Framework: A Cost-Benefit Analysis Model
• 2. Costs and Financial Sustainability of Research Infrastructures
• 3. Benefits to Scientists: Producing and Using Knowledge Output
• 4. Students and Postdoctoral Researchers: The Effects of Research Infrastructures on Human Capital
• 5. The Direct Effect on Firms: Knowledge Spillovers and Learning
• 6. Benefits to Users of Information Technology in the Big Data Era
• 7. Users of Science-Based Innovations
• 8. Outreach and Benefits to Users of Cultural Goods
• 9. Taxpayers: Science as a Global Public Good
• 10. The (Expected Net Present) Value of Investing in Discovery
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Index