The mobility of elite life scientists: Professional and personal determinants

Pierre Azoulay, Ina Ganguli and Joshua Graff Zivin

Research Policy, 2017, vol. 46, issue 3, 573-590

Abstract: As scientists’ careers unfold, mobility can allow researchers to find environments where they are more productive and more effectively contribute to the generation of new knowledge. In this paper, we examine the determinants of mobility of elite academics within the life sciences, including individual productivity measures and for the first time, measures of the peer environment and family factors. Using a unique data set compiled from the career histories of 10,051 elite life scientists in the U.S., we paint a nuanced picture of mobility. Prolific scientists are more likely to move, but this impulse is constrained by recent NIH funding. The quality of peer environments both near and far is an additional factor that influences mobility decisions. We also identify a significant role for family structure. Scientists appear to be unwilling to move when their children are between the ages of 14–17, and this appears to be more pronounced for mothers than fathers. These results suggest that elite scientists find it costly to disrupt the social networks of their children during adolescence and take these costs into account when making career decisions.

Keywords: Mobility; Life sciences; Economics of science; Innovation; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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Working Paper: The Mobility of Elite Life Scientists: Professional and Personal Determinants (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:46:y:2017:i:3:p:573-590

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2017.01.002

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