Leiden Manifesto for research metrics. The current system also has limitations to measure excellence in the Global South. Novel measurement systems such as the Research Quality Plus has been put forward to better emphasize local knowledge and contextualization in the evaluation of excellence. Another question is how to allocate funds to different disciplines, institutions, or researchers. A recent study by Wayne Walsh found that “prestigious institutions had on average 65% higher grant application success rates and 50% larger award sizes, whereas less-prestigious institutions produced 65% more publications and had a 35% higher citation impact per dollar of funding.” Trends In endogenous growth theories R&D contributes to economic growth. Therefore, countries have strong incentives to maintain investments in R&D. By country Different countries spend vastly different amounts on research, in both absolute and relative terms. For instance, South Korea and Israel spend more than 4% of their GDP while many less developed countries spend less than 1%. In developed economies, GERD is financed mainly by the business sector, whereas the government and the university sector dominates in less-developed economies. In some countries, funding from the Rest of the World makes up 20-30% of total GERD, probably due to FDI and foreign aid, but only in Mali it is the main source of fund. Private non-profit is not the main source of fund in any countries, but it reaches 10% of total GERD in Columbia and Honduras. When comparing annual GERD and GDP Growth, it can be seen that countries with lower GERD are often growing faster. However, as most of these countries are developing, their growth is probably driven by other factors of production. On the other hand, developed countries who have higher GERD also produce positive growth rates. GERD in these countries has a more substantial contribution to growth rate. Recessions In crisis, business R&D tends to act procyclically. As R&D is a long-term investments and so disruptions should be avoided Keynesian countercyclical reactions were advocated for in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, but this was difficult to achieve for some countries. Due to the nature of COVID-19, the pandemic accelerated publicly funded R&D spending in 2020, primarily into the pharmaceutical industry. A fall is expected in spending for 2021, although not below 2020 levels. The pandemic made health research and sectors with strategic value-chain dependencies the main target of science funding. See also Scientific funding advisory bodies