CT 3. Sustainable centers

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CT 3. Sustainable centers
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Steps towards sustainability

• How do we ensure that centers become
• Long-standing?
• Dynamic academic environments?
• Efficient bodies for policy advice?

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Keep cost levels low

• In order to ensure sustainability in research
  with variable research funding at hand
• - Keep cost levels low
• Try to make it possible to hedge funds
• Alternative incomes (for example from teaching)
  encouraged.

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Revolving leadership

• Research centers have a tendency to rely on one
  individual for its development and maintenance.
  To ensure a broader ownership and less
  vulnerability to disruption from loss of such
  leading individuals, a system of revolving
  leadership should be institutionalized.

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• Diversify funding - the centers should strive to
  achieve diverse funding given the volatility of
  international funding.
• Strategic focus and organic growth built in
  stabilizers, such as incentives, should be used
  to give all members of the center clear signals
  as to when to hold back and when to actively look
  for new opportunities.

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Independence

• In order to reach policy impact the centers might
  need to strive for a closer association with
  implementing bodies. If this is done, then it is
  important to safeguard independence and
  ownership, in order to ensure survival and
  sustained provision of advice also after a change
  in government. This could otherwise turn out to
  be a killing factor for the center.

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Integrity and anti-corruption awareness

• Corruption or that funds and positions are
  allocated with varying degrees of nepotism could
  endanger the quality, efficiency and integrity of
  the center.
• Apply Sidas Anti-corruption Regulation
• Anti-corruption clauses are part of all formal
  negotiations and agreements.
• Common vision, ideology, trust and social capital
  most important.

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Sustainability

• the sustainability of the EfD centers and the
  network they form will depend on the quality of
  the research.
• The current trend that research grants become
  fewer and larger necessitate consortia of
  international partners.
• EfD is expected to increase the involvement by
  researchers from developing countries in such
  international research projects.

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Advice to a new institute

• Three observations
• Experiences from CCAP by Scott Rozelle
• Assar Lindbäcks ten commandments or
• What is the best way of running a research
  institute?
• Or at least the Institute for International
  Economic Studies
• Experiences from RFF by Alan Krupnick at launch
  of IoEE.

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Scotts ten points

• Find personal commitment/stakeholder
• Screen all publications for quality
• Matching of young research staff work with the
  students
• Build data bases
• Have patience its a long process!
• Be selective in staff keep high standards. Some
  have to go.

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Scott Rozelle continued

• 7. International collaboration important
  frequent research visits and joint research
• 8. Policy impact through finding the agenda.
  Personal communication important to build trust.
• 9. Develop clear rules for choice between
  research and consultancy
• 10. Build critical mass but start small and
  work together

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Assars Ten Commandments

• What is the best way of running a research
  institute?
• Assar Lindbäck, Institute for International
  Economic Studies

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First

• A research institute should try to reach the
  international research frontier and, indeed,
  contribute to push that frontier ahead.
• Poor research is worse than no research at all,
  as it spreads misconceptions that competent
  researchers subsequently have to spend time
  fighting.

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Second

• It is important to publish internationally, so
  that the research is evaluated by the
  international research community.
• It is very difficult to hold back publishing of
  mediocre work if you have your own publication
  outlet. (IIES didnt)

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Third

• It is important to have outstanding foreign
  visitors at an institute - to import knowledge
  and to give a further boost to the international
  aspiration level.

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Fourth

• Every researcher at good institutions tend to
  develop his/her own international research
  network. Politicians and university
  administrators often believe that research
  networks should be organized, for instance by
  agreements and contracts between institutions.
  This is, in Assars opinion, a completely wrong
  approach.
• Participation in international research projects
  and conferences, and the organization of such
  activities, are better ways to participate in
  such networks.

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Fifth

• It is important to concentrate the activities to
  a limited number of areas. The IIES concentrated
  its work in one field only, macroeconomic theory
  and economic policy for open economies - by the
  power of example. A coordination of research
  activities took place as by an invisible hand
  rather than by conscious planning.

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Sixth

• Successful research also requires that a
  critical mass is reached in one or a few areas
• at least half a dozen people in each field.
• a high probability that a few people at the
  institute are truly interested in reading each
  other's drafts.
• Seminars also become much more interesting
• The frequency of joint work is a good indicator
• Useful to have a mix of generations

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Seventh

• A strong interaction between theoretical and
  methodological work, on the one hand, and applied
  research, on the other, is important for
  successful research.
• Solid theoretical and methodological training
  has been a key factor behind the contributions of
  the IIES also in applied research.
• Applied researchers give important impulses to
  the more theoretically oriented ones, and
  challenge the empirical relevance of their work.

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Eighth

• Employment decisions are the single most
  important administrative decisions at research
  institutes.
• High-quality research requires that everybody
  has the right to choose his/her own field and
  topics. Command and hierarchies do not fit a
  creative research environment everybody should
  be his/her own boss.
• It is also very important to have competent
  secretaries and research assistants.

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Ninth

• It is a great advantage for a research institute
  to be part of a good university.
• This contributes to new intellectual impulses
  from other departments and disciplines.
• It also provides interaction between research
  and education, which is stimulating both for
  researchers and for students.

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Tenth

• Finally, a research institute may want to
  produce articles and books also for laymen
  interested in economic issues.
• It is possible to make such contributions
  without a serious loss of time for academic
  research.
• In fact, a dose contact with discussions on
  economic policy issues help researchers to find
  suitable topics for academic research.

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RFFs Lessons

• RFFs Mission improve environmental and natural
  resources policymaking worldwide through
  objective social science research of the highest
  caliber.
• Limit your scope and disciplinary reach. Buy the
  best needed talent beyond this
• Decide on what is the means and what is the end

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More

• Hiring is the most important decision
• Line up your salary and promotion incentives with
  the mission
• Taking impact seriously has consequences
• Be aware of key tradeoffs
• Academics vs impacts
• 7 Is bottom up sufficient?
• Initially start on owning a few areas
• 8. Many models can work

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What are we looking for?

• Impact?
• Policy change?
• Knowledge made available?
• Indicators of success/sustainability?

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