Boosting scientific research: evidence from a public program

Abstract

We analyze the design of a unique Spanish public program aimed at recruit-ing high-quality researchers in public research centers: the Ramón y CajalProgram. We claim that, after a number of calls for applicants, the programdesign changed in response to agents' needs. Exploiting data on applica-tions and candidates, we find that the new program design led to significantchanges in the probability of being awarded a contract. In particular, oppor-tunities for candidates with no attachment to the system were equalized. ; Research funding from Ministry of Education, Grant Nos.ECO2009-11165 and ECO2012-31358 (Alonso-Borrego), ECO2011-25330 (Romero-Medina andTriossi) and ECO2009-10287 (Sánchez-Mangas) is acknowledged. ; Publicado