Frontier knowledge and scientific production: evidence from the collapse of international science

Alessandro Iaria, Carlo Schwarz and Fabian Waldinger

CEP Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: We show that WWI and the subsequent boycott against Central scientists severely interrupted international scientific cooperation. After 1914, citations to recent research from abroad decreased and paper titles became less similar (evaluated by Latent Semantic Analysis), suggesting a reduction in international knowledge flows. Reduced international scientific cooperation led to a decline in the production of basic science and its application in new technology. Specifically, we compare productivity changes for scientists who relied on frontier research from abroad, to changes for scientists who relied on frontier research from home. After 1914, scientists who relied on frontier research from abroad published fewer papers in top scientific journals, produced less Nobel Prize-nominated research, introduced fewer novel scientific words, and introduced fewer novel words that appeared in the text of subsequent patent grants. The productivity of scientists who relied on top 1% research declined twice as much as the productivity of scientists who relied on top 3% research. Furthermore, highly prolific scientists experienced the starkest absolute productivity declines. This suggests that access to the very best research is key for scientific and technological progress.

Keywords: frontier knowledge; scientific production; international knowledge flows; WWI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 J44 N3 N30 N4 N40 O3 O31 O5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-10-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-his, nep-hme, nep-ino, nep-knm, nep-lma and nep-sog
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Related works:
Journal Article: Frontier Knowledge and Scientific Production: Evidence from the Collapse of International Science (2018)
Working Paper: Frontier Knowledge and Scientific Production: Evidence from the Collapse of International Science (2018)
Working Paper: Frontier Knowledge and Scientific Production: Evidence from the Collapse of International Science (2017)
Working Paper: Frontier knowledge and scientific production: evidence from the collapse of international science (2017)
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