Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
评估明星科学家流动对其自身科研生产力的影响
Estimating the impact of a star scientist move on their own research productivity
摘要
Star scientists can have significant impacts on their institutions both through their own productivity and through spillover effects on their co-located colleagues. For newly recruited stars, previous research has shown evidence of positive productivity effects on incumbent scientists in the institutions they join. This paper complements this research by using the same data source to examine the effects of a star’s move on their own research performance in three small open economies (SOEs) - Ireland, Denmark, and New Zealand. We estimate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) using an event-study difference-in-differences design that compares star movers with non-mover stars who exhibit parallel pre-move productivity trends. Analysing the quality-adjusted productivity of 161-star scientists, we find that moving to a new institution substantially reduces their productivity in the year of the move by 58%, and this effect persists in subsequent years, with an estimated reduction of 42% after four years. One explanation consistent with this combination of negative own-productivity effects and positive peer-spillover effects is that the arriving stars prioritise institution-building activities at their new institution rather than their own research output.
中文摘要
明星科学家对其所在机构能够产生显著影响，这种影响既来自其自身生产力，也来自对同址同事的溢出效应。对于新招募的明星科学家，已有研究表明，他们对其加入机构中的在职科学家产生了正向生产力效应。本文利用同一数据来源对这一研究进行补充，考察明星科学家流动对其自身研究表现的影响，研究覆盖三个小型开放经济体（SOEs）——爱尔兰、丹麦和新西兰。我们采用事件研究双重差分设计，将明星流动者与具有平行流动前生产力趋势的非流动明星进行比较，估计处理组平均处理效应（ATT）。通过分析161位明星科学家的质量调整生产力，我们发现，迁至新机构使其在流动当年的生产力大幅下降58%，且这一效应在随后年份持续存在，四年后估计降幅为42%。一种与自身生产力负效应和同行溢出正效应这一组合相符的解释是，新加入的明星科学家优先投入新机构的机构建设活动，而非自身研究产出。