Levelling Up Through Health Research: The Regional Economic Impact of NIHR Funding in the UK

Description

This BCU Externally Funded Project investigates the economic impact and return on investment (ROI) of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding across the UK, with a particular focus on regional distribution. While the national benefits of public medical research have been documented, little is known about how these gains are shared across regions—an important question given current UK policy priorities around “levelling up.” Using a regional UK Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, we estimate both national and regional economic effects of NIHR funding between 2013/14 and 2017/18. Unlike traditional Input-Output models, our CGE approach accounts for supply-side constraints, inter-market interactions, and regional differences in labour and capital availability. This enables a more realistic and comprehensive assessment of both short-run economic stimulus and long-run productivity effects. We provide the first unified estimate of NIHR’s total economic return across all major funding streams and UK regions, expressed in GDP and welfare per value invested. Our analysis reveals significant regional variation in benefits, offering valuable insights for policymakers on how health research investments contribute to local economies. Methodologically, our study demonstrates the value of multi-regional CGE modelling in evaluating public R&D and provides a robust framework for assessing the broader economic implications of health research funding.

Period	1 Jul 2025
Event title	BCU Internal Business School Conference
Event type	Conference
Location	Birmingham, United KingdomShow on map