Who Stands on the Shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from Chemistry

Shumin Qiu, Claudia Steinwender and Pierre Azoulay

No 17805, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: China’s rise in science has the potential to push forward the knowledge frontier, but mere production of knowledge does not guarantee that others are able to build on it. We ask whether chemistry research originating from China offers broad shoulders for follow-on scientists to stand on. We show that even after carefully controlling for the quality of Chinese research, Chinese scientists’ articles receive on average 28% fewer citations from US researchers, relative to scientists from other countries. Only Chinese researchers with unusually deep networks in the US can overcome, at least in part, the citation discount.

Keywords: Research and development; International spillovers; Economics of science; Citations; Patent citations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 O30 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-01
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Related works:
Journal Article: Who stands on the shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from chemistry (2025)
Working Paper: Who stands on the shoulders of Chinese (scientific) giants? Evidence from chemistry (2023)
Working Paper: Who Stands on the Shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from Chemistry (2023)
Working Paper: Who stands on the shoulders of Chinese (scientific) giants? Evidence from chemistry (2023)
Working Paper: Who Stands on the Shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from Chemistry (2022)
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