Research Funding and Performance of Academic Researchers in South Korea

Abstract

This study seeks to empirically examine the impact of research funding for academic researchers on their research performance in the areas of natural science, engineering, agriculture and fishery science, and medicine and pharmacology in South Korea. Specifically, this study analyzed the research performance of 32,064 academic researchers based on their patent applications, patent registrations, and research articles published in academic journals in the year 2010. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis showed that various forms of research funding have a significant effect on their research performance. The results of this study also showed that the attributes of academic researchers, such as gender, age, where their PhD was completed, and major, have an influence on their research performance. © 2017 Policy Studies Organization