Description

Science is a key aspect of innovative activity in the economy. Literature has consistently shown that science is an important driver of economic growth while recent empirical evidence has linked the lack of scientific advancements to the stagnation of economic growth. For this reason, scholars have started examining the drivers that influence scientists in forming collaborations and working together. Until recently however, researchers have focused on how geographic, cultural and other types of proximity influence scientific collaborations. In our proposed project we aim to dwell deeper in the organizational structure of scientific teams. 

Our goal is to flesh out an important aspect that is usually neglected in collaborations; that of fairness. 

We aim to understand to what extent the allocation of scientific credit is fair. To do so, we propose to examine an exogenous increase in Information Technology that may resulted on fairer allocation of credit on scientific collaborations. Further, and more importantly, we will attempt to identify team characteristics that are associated with unfair allocation of credit. Finally, we will examine whether increased visibility, and therefore more fairness, influences future scientific collaborations.