The complex relationship between academic engagement and research output: Evidence from Italy

The academic systems of several countries are adapting to the consequences of progressive cuts in public research funding and the increasing engagement of academics in commercial contracts with both the private and public sector. While promoting the so-called third mission and encouraging university–industry collaboration agreements, there is the risk that commercial activities may distract academics from their traditional academic missions of teaching and research. This paper focuses on academic research output in several academic disciplines, expressed in terms of publication and citation numbers. First, we investigate whether and how funding from research contracts and consultancies is related to research output. Secondly, we investigate how internal university policies and norms that regulate university–industry collaboration affect university research output. The empirical evidence is based on an original longitudinal dataset for 2006–2012 on scientific output and research funding for 60 Italian public universities and 173 groups of departments classified by OECD scientific area.