Finding balance in global relationships: roles of collaboration, mobility, and specialization in building ties across countries

• In Event: How Does Mobility Change Researchers, Research Groups And Scientific Communities? (III)

Abstract

We analyze the role of disciplinary specialization in constituting the scientific collaborative and mobility relationships between countries. The scientific relationship between two countries is composed of collaboration and mobility through co-authorships, co-affiliations, and migration. The Probability-Affinity Index (PAI) is a widely used measure of the strength of the relationship between countries, taking into account their relative sizes. Past research using the PAI has found that the degree of this relationship is influenced by geographic proximity (U.S.A and Canada), language similarity (Spain and Mexico), and historical relationships (Colonial ties; soviet nations). Along with these factors, the specialization of a nation’s scientific workforce and funding priorities may also be relevant to the relative strength of the relationship. Such specialization may result from historical priorities or unique geographic characteristics. We use data from the Web of Science to calculate the PAI of collaboration (co-authorship) and mobility (migration) between countries and by scientific discipline. Using this data, we discern the importance of specialization to forming international scientific relationships. We also identify three types of prevalent specialization-based partnerships: co-option pattern, where both countries are strong in a given discipline; solidarity pattern, where both countries are weak in a discipline; and master-pupil pattern, where fields are of contrasting strength. Disciplinary influences the scientific relationship between countries, alongside the host of other historical, linguistic, geographic, and cultural factors. Comparative analyses of the role of specialization between countries can be useful for informing immigration policies and motivating further collaboration and mobility relationships.

Author

• Yi Bu