Editing Funding of science (section)

==== Funding modalities ====
Governments may fund science through different instruments such as: direct subsidies, tax credits, loans, financial instruments, regulatory measures, public procurement etc.
While direct subsidies have been the prominent instrument to fund business R&D, since the [[Financial crisis of 2007–2008|financial crisis]] a shift has taken place in OECD countries in the direction of tax breaks. The explanation seems to lay in the theoretical argument that firms know better, and in the practical benefit of lower administrative burden of such schemes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=OECD |title=OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2020 |date=2021-01-12 |isbn=9789264391987 |language=en |chapter=Government support for business research and innovation in a world in crisis |doi=10.1787/7a7891a5-en |chapter-url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-science-technology-and-innovation-outlook-2021_7a7891a5-en |s2cid=242590616 |archive-date=2023-05-01 |access-date=2022-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501050427/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-science-technology-and-innovation-outlook-2021_7a7891a5-en |url-status=live }}</ref> Depending on the funding type, different modalities to distribute the research funds may be used. For regulatory measures, often the [[Competition law|competition/antitrust]] authorities will rule on exemptions. In case of block funding the funds may be directly allocated to given institutions such as higher education institutions with relative autonomy over their use.<ref name=":1" /> For competitive grants, governments are often assisted by research councils to distribute the funds.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lepori |first=Benedetto |title=The changing governance of research systems. Agencification and organizational differentiation in research funding organizations |date=2019 |url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784715939/9781784715939.00034.xml |work=Handbook on Science and Public Policy |pages=448–465 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |language=en |doi=10.4337/9781784715946.00034 |isbn=978-1-78471-594-6 |s2cid=197812506 |access-date=2022-03-28 |archive-date=2022-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405164403/https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784715939/9781784715939.00034.xml |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Research councils are (usually public) bodies that provide research funding in the form of research grants or [[scholarship]]s. These include arts councils and research councils for the funding of science.{{cn|date=March 2025}}