An Evaluation of the Kansas Bioscience Authority: Economic Impact Measures

Abstract

In the fall of 2011, the Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA) requested that the University of Kansas Center for Science, Technology & Economic Policy at the Institute for Policy & Social Research provide a review of KBA’s Direct Outcomes Description and Measurement Policy. This policy informs KBA's collection of economic impact data and frames KBA’s policies more generally in light of technology evaluation. This report responds to KBA's request and addresses the following topics: 1) general challenges of technology evaluation; 2) the scope of KBA’s technology programs; 3) the contributions of KBA’s current measures to overall program evaluation; 4) measures that might be added or enhanced in the future; and 5) a comparison of this review to other efforts to evaluate KBA.

This report discusses the inherent difficulty of measuring long‐term scientific investments with short‐term indicators of future economic impact. KBA has several programs designed to increase bioscience research, foster commercial development, and attract new ventures to the state of Kansas. Each of these activities requires different metrics to evaluate its overall impact. We reviewed these metrics and compared them to those being collected by similar state agencies as well as the federal STAR METRICS program. Our review shows that KBA collects more metrics than agencies reviewed in other states. KBA also collects many of the indicators used in the federal STAR METRICS program. We recommend that KBA enhance its measures by including additional STAR METRICS measures such as patent citations, scientific publications, and workforce development indicators including students trained in bioscience on KBA funded projects. Although, KBA has been reviewed on two previous occasions, this report provides new information on the quality of the economic impact data they collect. Overall, we find that KBA collects a comprehensive set of outcome measures that span the scope of KBA’s mission and provide the basis for understanding the economic impact of their scientific investments.