The Impact on Research Quality of Performance-Based Funding: The Case of New Zealand's PBRF Scheme

This paper discusses the impact on research quality of New Zealand universities of the Performance-Based Research Fund from 2003 to 2012. This is a peer-review process involving assessment of individual researchers. The contribution to improvement in research quality of transitions among research quality categories and entrants and exits of individuals are identified. A substantial component of change has been the removal of non-research active staff. There has been population ageing due to retention of older and higher-quality researchers and a large reduction in the number of younger researchers. Significant differences among universities are evident in the patterns of transformation. The paper also critically considers the PBRF assessment process and characteristics of the metrics used, suggesting scope for improvement in the assessment of researchers and the way in which universities are ranked.