Gini Coefficient for research funding

By Neil Thomas Stacey

science;

The Gini Coefficient is widely recognized as a means of evaluating inequality in resource allocation. It is applied most commonly to wealth and/or income, but has more recently been applied to a range of phenomena, as widespread as success rates on online dating platforms. Research funding is a prime prospect for such an application, with attention having been drawn recently to inequalities in funding access, with some particular focus on the so-called "Matthew Effect" in science, where initial advantages snowball into enormous disparities over the course of a scientific career. Determining the Gini coefficient for research funding in the context of a country or even of single institutions would be a valuable instrument for identifying extreme disparities and drawing attention to them, with the potential of resulting in reconsideration and re-optimization of resource allocation.

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