Motivation and research productivity in a university system undergoing transition

The purpose of this study is to explore whether research productivity is correlated with extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Even though research productivity and motivation have been analyzed in the economics of science literature, the relationship between the two has received very little attention so far. We have conducted a questionnaire survey among Romanian academics of economics and business administration and merged the responses with the official university records of professorial research output. Using a Tobit regression model on a representative sample we find that intrinsic motivation is positively correlated with research productivity, whereas extrinsic motivation is negatively correlated. These results imply that scientists who take a strong interest in their work are, as a consequence, more productive researchers; scientists who are, in general, extrinsically motivated will however substitute their efforts toward activities that are more financially profitable in an economy undergoing transition.