Published in December 2018, the report investigates the relationship between research spending and performance and the time-lags between them. Whilst the UK is recognised as a world-leader in research, it could be at a comparative disadvantage in terms of investing in future research.

A series of case studies across 38 countries are analysed. It is found that there is a statistically significant relationship between changes in spending and changes in performance when country factors are taken into account. The relationship implies that a substantial increase or decrease in spending will affect performance as measured by the number of research publications produced.