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Jack of fewer trades: Evolution of specialization in research

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  • Jinyoung Kim
  • Kanghyock Koh

Abstract

It is widely maintained that scientists have become increasingly specialized with a narrow range of expertise ever since the era of “Renaissance men.” However, evidence on scientists' specialization is rather anecdotal. We provide large‐scale evidence to address whether younger generations of inventors have indeed become more specialized, using a unique panel data set of Korean inventors. We also investigate how the degree of specialization evolves over an inventor's research career and how far an inventor switches his or her field of expertise in the technology space over a career. Touche‐à‐moins : l'évolution de la spécialisation en recherche. Il est communément admis que les scientifiques sont de plus en plus spécialisés dans une mince tranche d'expertise depuis l'époque de la Renaissance. Toutefois, les données probantes sur la spécialisation des scientifiques sont plutôt anecdotiques. Nous présentons de vastes données probantes pour déterminer si les générations d'inventeurs à venir sont effectivement plus spécialisées, en nous inspirant d'un ensemble de données sur un échantillon unique d'inventeurs coréens. Nous évaluons également la façon dont le niveau de spécialisation évolue au fil de la carrière de recherche d'un inventeur et à quel point il change son champ d'expertise dans le secteur technologique au cours de sa carrière.

Suggested Citation

  • Jinyoung Kim & Kanghyock Koh, 2023. "Jack of fewer trades: Evolution of specialization in research," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 423-452, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:56:y:2023:i:2:p:423-452
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12656
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    References listed on IDEAS

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