Working Paper: NBER ID: w30772
Authors: Shumin Qiu; Claudia Steinwender; Pierre Azoulay
Abstract: In recent decades, Chinese researchers have become preeminent contributors to the scientific enterprise, as reflected by the number of publications originating from Chinese research institutions. China’s rise in science has the potential to push forward the global frontier, but mere production of knowledge does not guarantee that others are able to build on it. We ask whether chemistry research originating from China offers broad shoulders for follow-on scientists to stand on. In the raw publication and citation data, Chinese-authored articles receive only half the citations from the US compared to articles from other countries. We show that even after carefully controlling for the quality of Chinese research, Chinese PIs’ articles receive on average 28% fewer citations from US researchers. Our results point to the existence of frictions in the dissemination of Chinese research across borders, even in a domain where Chinese scientists have long excelled. These frictions do not reflect lower actual (or even perceived) quality of Chinese research, and do not appear to be motivated by animus against Chinese researchers. Only Chinese researchers with unusually deep networks in the US can overcome, at least in part, the citation discount.
Keywords: Chinese research; citations; global scientific collaboration; chemistry
JEL Codes: I23; O30; O53
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Chinese-authored articles (A31) | fewer citations from U.S. researchers (A14) |
| Chinese PI articles (O34) | fewer citations from U.S. researchers (A14) |
| U.S. training for Chinese researchers (I23) | mitigates citation discount (D15) |
| Citation discount (D15) | not due to clustering in less-cited subfields (A14) |
| Citation discount (D15) | not due to ethnic animus (J15) |
| U.S. citations to Chinese articles (A14) | stable over two decades (E63) |
| Citation patterns for other countries (O57) | citation premiums (Y60) |