Interrelated funding streams in a multi-funder university system: Evidence from the German Exzellenzinitiative

Abstract Using the Zukunftskonzepte funding line of the German Exzellenzinitiative as our empirical setting and employing a difference-in-differences approach, we study interrelations in the competitive funding of research projects. Our results indicate that enhanced inequality introduced through the Exzellenzinitiative was partially offset by changes in the allocation of resources from other funders.