Incentives for interdisciplinary research

This paper is a positive analysis of the driving forces in interdisciplinary research. I take the perspective of a research institution that has to decide how to apply its resources among the production of two types of knowledge: specialized or interdisciplinary. Using a prize mechanism of compensation, I show that the choice of interdisciplinarity is compatible with profit maximization when the requirement for the production is sufficiently demanding, and when the new interdisciplinary field is not too neutral. Productive gains due to complementarities of efforts is the main advantage of interdisciplinary organization.

I am grateful to the fellowship of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal), and to the financial support from BEC2003-01132 (Spain).

Peer reviewed

Keywords

Standards, Recerca científica, Interdisciplinarity, scientific research, specialization, interdisciplinarity, adaptative-skills, prizes, standards, Adaptative-skills, Scientific Research, Prizes, Specialization, jel: jel:D80, jel: jel:O31, jel: jel:O38

Impact byBIP!

	selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	0
	popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.	Average
	influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	Average
	impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.	Average