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Rationalizing risk aversion in science: Why incentives to work hard clash with incentives to take risks.

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Scientific incentives often discourage high-risk, high-return research. Current systems reward effort over risky innovation, slowing scientific progress and leaving researchers in suboptimal situations.

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Area of Science:

  • Economics of Science
  • Scientific Innovation Policy

Background:

  • Scientific progress relies on risk-taking, yet funding often favors caution.
  • Funding agencies struggle to attract high-risk, high-return research proposals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore why incentives fail to promote risky scientific research.
  • To analyze the conflict between encouraging effort and risk-taking in science.

Main Methods:

  • Adaptation of an economic contracting model.
  • Analysis of a hidden-action problem in scientific reward structures.

Main Results:

  • Unobservable risk and effort discourage high-risk research.
  • Incentives for effort clash with incentives for risk-taking.
  • Scientists favor safe projects, hindering rapid scientific advancement.

Conclusions:

  • Current self-governing reward systems in science are insufficient to motivate optimal risk-taking.
  • Policies prioritizing productivity over researcher well-being could induce risk but increase livelihood insecurity.
  • Realigning incentives is crucial for accelerating scientific discovery.