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The Impact of U.S.-China Tensions on U.S. Science

Author

Listed:
  • Ruixue Jia
  • Margaret E. Roberts
  • Ye Wang
  • Eddie Yang

Abstract

While there has been much discussion about recent investigations of foreign influence in research, very little work has quantified how these investigations have affected the productivity of U.S. scientists. We uncover evidence of adverse effects on U.S. scientists with collaborators in China using publication data from PubMed and Dimensions during 2010–2021. By studying the publication records of over 113,000 scientists during 2015–2021, we find that the investigations coincide with a decline in the productivity of scientists with previous collaborations with scientists in China in comparison to scientists with international collaborators outside of China, especially when the impact of publications (proxied by citations) is considered. The decline is particularly salient for fields with more pre-investigation NIH funding and U.S.-China collaborations. Our findings suggest that scientific research may be very sensitive to political tensions, and we further explore these mechanisms with qualitative interviews with scientists.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruixue Jia & Margaret E. Roberts & Ye Wang & Eddie Yang, 2022. "The Impact of U.S.-China Tensions on U.S. Science," NBER Working Papers 29941, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29941
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    Cited by:

    1. liu, zhouyan, 2023. "From Surveillance to Empowerment: Redirecting Research in Authoritarian Regimes through Academic Incentives and Collaboration," SocArXiv qs3fu, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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