Evaluating a Program of Public Funding of Scientific Activity: A Case Study of FONCYT in Argentina

This report contains an evaluation of the Scientific and Technological Research Projects (PICT) funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Fund (FONCYT). FONCYT is managed by the National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCYT), an organization that is part of the Argentine federal government. The main function of FONCYT is to support, through the granting of subsidies, research projects aimed at generating scientific or technological knowledge. In order to carry out the evaluation, the authors have taken advantage of a series of econometric techniques that allow them to identify the impact of having received a subsidy from the FONCYT on the academic performance, distinguishing this impact from other factors that could also be affecting the performance of the researchers that are part of both analyzed groups (funded and not funded).