'Managing Demand' for Peer Reviews

Abstract

Symptoms identified, cause overlooked, treatment inappropriate. The UK Research Councils' peer review system is overwhelmed by the growing number of grant proposals. They finally have decided to addresses the problem by 'managing demand'. The UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, leading the way, introduced new rules and regulations on April 1, 2009. Since the fix ignores that free peer reviews pose an externality and distort demand, the new policy is a joy only for research-led teaching: as an example of how the failure to follow simple economic insights leads to misguided regulation.

Keywords: Grant applications, peer review, costing, externality

JEL Classification: H40, D40