Mobility in Science
(2019) In Lund Economic Studies- Abstract
- The thesis consists of three independent chapters. The chapters are all empirical studies of scientists and the role that different types of mobility play in shaping researchers' scientific output and careers.
Chapter 1, uses the liberalization of Swedish work migration, in 2008, to study the effect of immigration on the publishing productivity of incumbent academics in Sweden. The reform led to a sharp increase in the number of Asian academic researchers and PhD-students coming to Sweden. Identification relies on both the suddenness of the supply shock and that departments with past exposure to Asian migration saw relatively larger inflows of Asian migrants. Results show that the supply shock increased the publication output of... (More) - The thesis consists of three independent chapters. The chapters are all empirical studies of scientists and the role that different types of mobility play in shaping researchers' scientific output and careers.
Chapter 1, uses the liberalization of Swedish work migration, in 2008, to study the effect of immigration on the publishing productivity of incumbent academics in Sweden. The reform led to a sharp increase in the number of Asian academic researchers and PhD-students coming to Sweden. Identification relies on both the suddenness of the supply shock and that departments with past exposure to Asian migration saw relatively larger inflows of Asian migrants. Results show that the supply shock increased the publication output of incumbent researchers. Positive effects are found to be mainly explained by increased publishing productivity of already prolific incumbent researchers. For less productive incumbents, evidence instead suggests crowding-out effects and reduced productivity.
Chapter 2, studies the effects of inter-university mobility on researcher productivity. The study suggests substantial gains from mobility on scientific output. Mobility effects are not explained by promotions taking place jointly with a move. Positive effects are found among individuals who move between universities and not for those who move to or from university colleges. Moreover, we find that the positive effect of moving only applies to researchers in medicine, natural sciences and engineering, and technology, with no effect of mobility found in the social sciences and the humanities.
Chapter 3, investigates the social background of PhD-graduates. Results suggest that parents' characteristics are essential determinants for obtaining a PhD-level education. Of particular importance is if the parent also holds a PhD. This association is gender- and field-specific and is large in comparison to other sources of exposure to researcher careers in the childhood environment. Taken together, the results suggest that the family environment is crucial for obtaining a PhD-level education. Moreover, the study reveals that the existence of intergenerational spillovers also affects patenting and publishing behavior in a later research career. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Avhandlingen består av tre oberoende kapitel som alla är empiriska studier av forskare och den roll som olika typer av rörlighet spelar för att forma forskarnas vetenskapliga produktion och karriär.
Kapitel 1 studerar effekterna av avregleringen av svensk arbetsmigration, 2008, på publiceringsproduktiviteten hos akademiker verksamma i Sverige. Reformen ledde till en kraftig ökning av antalet asiatiska akademiska forskare och doktorander till Sverige. Identifiering av kausal effekt bygger på att chocken ökade inflödet plötsligt och att universitetsinstutioner med en historia av asiatisk migration upplevde relativt större inflöden av asiatiska migranter. Resultaten visar att chocken ökade den genomsnittliga publikationsproduktionen... (More) - Avhandlingen består av tre oberoende kapitel som alla är empiriska studier av forskare och den roll som olika typer av rörlighet spelar för att forma forskarnas vetenskapliga produktion och karriär.
Kapitel 1 studerar effekterna av avregleringen av svensk arbetsmigration, 2008, på publiceringsproduktiviteten hos akademiker verksamma i Sverige. Reformen ledde till en kraftig ökning av antalet asiatiska akademiska forskare och doktorander till Sverige. Identifiering av kausal effekt bygger på att chocken ökade inflödet plötsligt och att universitetsinstutioner med en historia av asiatisk migration upplevde relativt större inflöden av asiatiska migranter. Resultaten visar att chocken ökade den genomsnittliga publikationsproduktionen i de instituioner som hade de största inflödena av migranter. Men de positiva effekterna förklaras främst av ökad produktivitet hos redan högproduktiva forskare. För mindre produktiva forskare tyder istället resultaten på utträngningseffekter och minskad produktivitet.
Kapitel 2 studerar effekterna av rörlighet mellan lärosäten för akademiska forskares produktivitet. Studien visar på betydande vinster från rörlighet för vetenskaplig produktion. Rörlighetseffekter kan inte förklaras av effekten av befodran som sker i samband med en flytt. Positiva effekter förklaras istället av forskare som flyttar mellan universitet men inte för dem som flyttar till eller från högskolor. Dessutom finner vi att den positiva publiceringseffekten av rörlighet endast gäller forskare inom medicin, naturvetenskap och teknik, och inte omfattar forskare inom samhällsvetenskapen och humaniora.
Kapitel 3 undersöker den sociala bakgrunden bland forskarutbildade. Resultaten tyder på att föräldrarnas bakgrund är en väsentliga avgörande faktor för att få en doktorandutbildning. Särskilt viktigt är om föräldern också har en doktorsexamen. Detta samband är köns- och fältspecifik och är relativ stor i jämförelse med andra källor för exponering för forskarkarriärer i barndomsmiljön. Sammantaget antyder resultaten att familjemiljön är avgörande för att få en doktorandutbildning. Studien visar dessutom att sådana intergenerationsöverskridande effekter också påverkar patentering och publiceringsproduktivtet i en senare forskningskarriär. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/10e06096-a84c-40f9-9114-2f48562e2176
- author
- Källström, John LU
- supervisor
-
- Olof Ejermo LU
- Kaveh Majlesi LU
- opponent
-
- Professor McHale, John, National University of Ireland Galway
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Economics of science, Mobility, Scientists, Scientific productivity, Migration
- in
- Lund Economic Studies
- issue
- 216
- pages
- 197 pages
- publisher
- Department of Economics, Lund University
- defense location
- EC3:211
- defense date
- 2019-10-11 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 0460-0029
- ISBN
- 978-91-7895-112-3
- 978-91-7895-111-6
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 10e06096-a84c-40f9-9114-2f48562e2176
- date added to LUP
- 2019-09-19 17:49:37
- date last changed
- 2023-04-27 10:43:10
@phdthesis{10e06096-a84c-40f9-9114-2f48562e2176,
abstract = {{The thesis consists of three independent chapters. The chapters are all empirical studies of scientists and the role that different types of mobility play in shaping researchers' scientific output and careers.<br/><br/>Chapter 1, uses the liberalization of Swedish work migration, in 2008, to study the effect of immigration on the publishing productivity of incumbent academics in Sweden. The reform led to a sharp increase in the number of Asian academic researchers and PhD-students coming to Sweden. Identification relies on both the suddenness of the supply shock and that departments with past exposure to Asian migration saw relatively larger inflows of Asian migrants. Results show that the supply shock increased the publication output of incumbent researchers. Positive effects are found to be mainly explained by increased publishing productivity of already prolific incumbent researchers. For less productive incumbents, evidence instead suggests crowding-out effects and reduced productivity.<br/><br/>Chapter 2, studies the effects of inter-university mobility on researcher productivity. The study suggests substantial gains from mobility on scientific output. Mobility effects are not explained by promotions taking place jointly with a move. Positive effects are found among individuals who move between universities and not for those who move to or from university colleges. Moreover, we find that the positive effect of moving only applies to researchers in medicine, natural sciences and engineering, and technology, with no effect of mobility found in the social sciences and the humanities.<br/><br/>Chapter 3, investigates the social background of PhD-graduates. Results suggest that parents' characteristics are essential determinants for obtaining a PhD-level education. Of particular importance is if the parent also holds a PhD. This association is gender- and field-specific and is large in comparison to other sources of exposure to researcher careers in the childhood environment. Taken together, the results suggest that the family environment is crucial for obtaining a PhD-level education. Moreover, the study reveals that the existence of intergenerational spillovers also affects patenting and publishing behavior in a later research career.}},
author = {{Källström, John}},
isbn = {{978-91-7895-112-3}},
issn = {{0460-0029}},
keywords = {{Economics of science; Mobility; Scientists; Scientific productivity; Migration}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{216}},
publisher = {{Department of Economics, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Economic Studies}},
title = {{Mobility in Science}},
year = {{2019}},
}