arbiter
JournalsAccount

Do UK research and collaborations in R&I promote economic prosperity and leveling-up? An analysis of UKRI funding between 2004 and 2021

Raquel Ortega-Argiles & Pei-Yu Yuan

Industrial and Corporate Change2026https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtag007article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the extent to which public funding of research-related investments in the UK contributes to regional development and the fostering of regional convergence processes. This issue arises against the backdrop of the UK’s ‘Leveling Up’ agenda, in which there is an explicit mission to significantly increase the share of R&D public support in the regions outside of London and the Greater South East. Yet, whether such a policy is a realistic approach for driving regional development itself depends on how the impacts of publicly funded research play out across the economic development landscape. As such, our aim is to assess whether the funding logic and architecture over the last two decades has contributed to regional development and convergence or Leveling Up. To achieve this, we develop a novel multilevel structural equation modeling methodology applied to panel data constructed using social network analysis techniques. This novel methodology then enables us to uncover all the direct, indirect, and induced development effects operating both within and between regions, arising as a result of public funding. The analysis uses the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) repository of funded projects between 2004 and May 2021, involving 25,122 projects and 44,406 participant firms and organizations, and accounting for approximately 32% of the total UK government-supported R&D over the period. The results from our analysis provide new evidence and insights into the regional development effects of different types of knowledge collaborations supported by publicly funded sources.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtag007

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{raquel2026,
  title        = {{Do UK research and collaborations in R&I promote economic prosperity and leveling-up? An analysis of UKRI funding between 2004 and 2021}},
  author       = {Raquel Ortega-Argiles & Pei-Yu Yuan},
  journal      = {Industrial and Corporate Change},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtag007},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Do UK research and collaborations in R&I promote economic prosperity and leveling-up? An analysis of UKRI funding between 2004 and 2021

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.