정부출연연구기관 재정지원 방식이 연구성과에 미친 영향: PBS가 정부출연연구기관 특허성과의 질에 미친 영향을 중심으로

The PBS (project-based system) was introduced to promote the autonomy and research efficiency of government-funded research institutes (GFRI) in 1996. From the beginning, however, many scholars have criticized that PBS caused low-quality research performance. Even though government has constantly increased direct funding, there are still arguments regarding more direct funding and abolishment of PBS. The reason for the continuing debate is the lack of empirical evidence for the effect of PBS on the research performance of GFRI. Using the number of forward citations as the measure of patent quality, this study empirically analyzed the impact of PBS on the patent quality of GFRI. The empirical results show that PBS has decreased the patent quality of GFRI. The patents of PBS have a small number of forward citations, indicating that they have less impact on subsequent technology and are less utilized in society. Also, PBS has a stronger negative effect on the GFRI of the industry-technology field. These empirical results imply that government should grant more direct funding to GFRI, especially in the industry-technology field to promote technological development.