Diversity and collaboration in Economics

Economics & Business research student Sultan Orazbayev explores the role of geographic diversity in explaining the quality and productiveness of collaboration in scientific research. 

Empirical analysis of scientific publications shows that science is becoming increasingly collaborative. Yet some collaborations appear to be more productive than others. In this presentation, we use a large dataset on collaborations among economists to explore the role of geographic diversity in explaining the quality of collaboration. 

After controlling for a range of relevant factors, network position of the authors in the global research network plays an important role in the quality of the collaboration. Geographic diversity is important, but mainly as a channel through which the collaborators access non-redundant information and resources. The roles of culture, ethnicity and gender are also explored.