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The value of an overseas research trip

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  • Gokhan Aykac

    (Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University)

Abstract

As an essential part of the academic environment, international scientific mobility draws considerable attention from researchers. Previous studies have indicated a strong relationship between scientific mobility and scientific output. However, few researchers have addressed the causality between them. The research questions in this study focused on how the international scientific mobilization of the researchers affects their number of international collaborations, their ability to get published at higher impact factor journals, the number of citations that they get. Based on the SCOPUS database of English language scientific journal articles, this paper revealed the causal effects of international scientific mobility of the researchers on their scientific productivity, collaborations, and impact on science using the synthetic control method. The author’s affiliation on their articles provided the geographical location that can be tracked in time to infer the international scientific mobility of each author. A sample of more than 79,000 immobile scientists was used to create the synthetic versions of over 1500 internationally mobile scientists, so that, the synthetic version of each mobile author best resembled the academic ability of her/his counterpart mobile author in the pre-mobilization period. This allowed investigating the effects of the international mobilization on their publications by comparing the post-mobilization publication characteristics of the mobile authors and their immobile synthetic controls.The findings show strong evidence of a substantial positive effect of scientific mobility on the ability to get published in more prestigious journals, the number of citations received in total and from overseas, and international collaborations. The magnitude of the effect is conditional on the duration of scientific mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Gokhan Aykac, 2021. "The value of an overseas research trip," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(8), pages 7097-7122, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:8:d:10.1007_s11192-021-04052-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04052-4
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Scientist mobility; High-skilled labor; High-skilled labor migration; Brain drain; Bibliometrics; Scientific productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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