Scientific mobility as a bridge between two worlds

Lorena Rivera León, UNU-MERITSimone Sasso, UNU-MERITsasso@merit.unu.edu

Analysing the impact of foreign-educated researchers on academicupgrading in Mexico

Lorena Rivera León, UNU-MERITSimone Sasso, UNU-MERITsasso@merit.unu.edu

OECD Blue Sky Forum III “Towards the next generation of data and indicators”Ghent, 19-21 September 2016

Scientific upgrading in middle-income countries• Global connections are key for middle-income countries (Fagerberg et al., 2010; Fu et al., 2011)

» to access to external technology and upgrade local knowledge base» to accelerate technological learning and economic growth different channels: FDI, international trade, integration in GVC, and internationalscientific collaborations (e.g. Coe and Helpman, 1995; Moen, 2005 ; Pietrobelli and Rabellotti, 2011)

• Foreign-educated PhDs are ideally placed to» to develop professional social capital and knowledge proximity when they are abroad» to plug other local researchers into wider global scientific connections

• Global vs. local connections? No real local/global trade-off in knowledge creation:» domestic social capital maintained (e.g. Scellato et al, 2015; Barnard et al., 2012; 2015)

» International social capital doesn’t get weaker (e.g. Jonkers and Tijssen, 2008; Murakami, 2014)

• Global connections are key for middle-income countries (Fagerberg et al., 2010; Fu et al., 2011)

» to access to external technology and upgrade local knowledge base» to accelerate technological learning and economic growth different channels: FDI, international trade, integration in GVC, and internationalscientific collaborations (e.g. Coe and Helpman, 1995; Moen, 2005 ; Pietrobelli and Rabellotti, 2011)

• Foreign-educated PhDs are ideally placed to» to develop professional social capital and knowledge proximity when they are abroad» to plug other local researchers into wider global scientific connections

• Global vs. local connections? No real local/global trade-off in knowledge creation:» domestic social capital maintained (e.g. Scellato et al, 2015; Barnard et al., 2012; 2015)

» International social capital doesn’t get weaker (e.g. Jonkers and Tijssen, 2008; Murakami, 2014)

The Mexican ResearchSystem

• Relatively low investments in research and relativelylow performances:e.g. » Researchers/thousand labour force (2011)

= 7.21 OECD countries= 2.61 Argentina= 0.78 Mexico

» 0.82% world scientific production (2013)

• The National System of Researchers (SNI) recognisesand stimulates economically, through a merit-basedscheme, the production of high quality scientificknowledge 4 different SNI levels:

» Candidate: PhD level (with exceptions)» Level 1 : + training, participation S&T evaluation

committees, diffusion of S&T activities» Level 2: + develop/establish a line of

research/academic specialisation» Level 3: + leadership in the Mexican scientificcommunity, national and international recognition

• The National System of Researchers (SNI) recognisesand stimulates economically, through a merit-basedscheme, the production of high quality scientificknowledge 4 different SNI levels:

» Candidate: PhD level (with exceptions)» Level 1 : + training, participation S&T evaluation

committees, diffusion of S&T activities» Level 2: + develop/establish a line of

research/academic specialisation» Level 3: + leadership in the Mexican scientificcommunity, national and international recognition

Data

• Researchers SNI members in 2013 : our sample 4,440 researchers

• ISI Web of Science (WoS) publications between 2008-2012 : 36,265 publications

• Focus on ‘Hard Sciences’ » Physics and Astrophysics» Earth Sciences» Technology Sciences» Life Sciences» Chemistry» Mathematics» Medicine and Health Sciences

• Researchers SNI members in 2013 : our sample 4,440 researchers

• ISI Web of Science (WoS) publications between 2008-2012 : 36,265 publications

• Focus on ‘Hard Sciences’ » Physics and Astrophysics» Earth Sciences» Technology Sciences» Life Sciences» Chemistry» Mathematics» Medicine and Health Sciences

94%

75%

56%

47%

06%

25%

44%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Candidate Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Mexican degree Foreign degree Log. (Mexican degree) Log. (Foreign degree)

SNI Level Mexicandegree

Foreigndegree

Level 3 11.9 12.4

Level 2 10.1 10.8

Level 1 7.1 7.1

SNI level shares (2013) by origin PhDtraining

Age-adjusted average number of WoSpublications by SNI level and origin ofacademic degree, 2008-2012

94%

75%

56%

47%

06%

25%

44%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Candidate Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Mexican degree Foreign degree Log. (Mexican degree) Log. (Foreign degree)

Level 1 7.1 7.1

Candidate 5.3 6.6

Total 7.6 9.1

Global vs. Local?

Total co-authors

TotalMexican co-

authors

Totalforeign co-

authors

Co-authorshipsexclusively with

foreign co-authors

Mexicandegree

24,92 19,03 5,89 0,17

ForeigndegreeForeigndegree

31,02 20,31 10,71 0,29

» Foreign-trained researchers are on average more connected nationally andinternationally

» On average 6 co-authors more: 1 Mexican and 5 foreign

» Also higher number of publications exclusively with foreign co-author

Researchers as ‘gatekeepers’: a new way of measuringknowledge transfer?

ji jid ),(

1

iii reachweightedAverageweightExternalgGatekeepin

∑ (weighted) papers

with foreign scholars

SNI Level Observations Gatekeeping External weightMean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.

Foreign Degree 1248 0,24 0,30 1,91 2,33MexicanDegree 3273 0,22 0,28 1,65 1,94

Impact on self and impact on others

Selection eq.

Impact on others

Impact on self

iiii DXG

otherwiseDDifDZD iiiiii 0,01 ** Selection eq.

Impact on others

Impact on self )4,1(, iiiii RDXR

Impact on self

• Having a foreigndegree gives a higherprobability ofreaching higher SNIlevels.

• Having a foreigndegree gives a higherprobability ofreaching higher SNIlevels.

Outcome equationSelectionequation

Outcomeequation

Selectionequation

Variables DV = gatekeepingDV = Foreign

degreeDV =

ln(gatekeeping)DV = Foreign

degreeForeign Degree (= 1) 0.33*** 0.58***Years since Phd/degree 0.0014*** 0.0041**Late Phd/degree 0.028** -0.0033Gender and AgeMale = 1 0.39*** 0.48***Age at PhD start 25_10 -0.19** -0.17(Age at PhD start 25_10)^2 0.096 0.080Male * Age at PhD start 25_10 0.22* 0.19

Male * (Age at PhD start 25_10)^2 -0.30*** -0.31***Co-authorsCo-authors USA 0.090*** 0.30***

Impact on others

Co-authorsCo-authors USA 0.090*** 0.30***Co-authors Candidates 0.090*** 0.34***Co-authors SNI Level 1 0.096*** 0.50***Co-authors SNI Level 2 0.074*** 0.28***Co-authors SNI Level 3 0.091*** 0.31***AffiliationsCONACYT Research Centres 0.017 0.0069Federal Public Universities 0.023** 0.023State Public Universities -0.0094 -0.073*Disciplines dummies Yes Yes Yes YesConstant -0.12*** -0.90*** -3.12*** -0.98***athrho -0.76*** -0.31***lnsigma -1.23*** -0.024Observations (n) 4440 4440 3704 3704

Conclusion• There are productivity advantages for foreign training among Mexican researchers affiliated to

the SNI in 2013 in hard sciences

• Studying abroad seems to» increase the international exposure of Mexican researchers and theirconnectivity both with local and foreign peers;» let Mexican researchers further advance in their academic careers

• No significant trade-off between local and global connections: domestic and internationalconnections as complements rather than substitutes

• Studying abroad makes Mexican researchers much better gatekeepers

• New way of using bibliometric indicators to measure the impact of research on thebroadnational research system– Collection of mobility data – challenging, and especially for developing countries.– Bibliometric data beyond WoS data

• There are productivity advantages for foreign training among Mexican researchers affiliated tothe SNI in 2013 in hard sciences

• Studying abroad seems to» increase the international exposure of Mexican researchers and theirconnectivity both with local and foreign peers;» let Mexican researchers further advance in their academic careers

• No significant trade-off between local and global connections: domestic and internationalconnections as complements rather than substitutes

• Studying abroad makes Mexican researchers much better gatekeepers

• New way of using bibliometric indicators to measure the impact of research on thebroadnational research system– Collection of mobility data – challenging, and especially for developing countries.– Bibliometric data beyond WoS data

Thank you!