Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?
2019; American Economic Association; Volume: 109; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1257/aer.20161574
ISSN1944-7981
AutoresPierre Azoulay, Christian Fons‐Rosen, Joshua Graff Zivin,
Tópico(s)Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis
ResumoWe examine how the premature death of eminent life scientists alters the vitality of their fields. While the flow of articles by collaborators into affected fields decreases after the death of a star scientist, the flow of articles by non-collaborators increases markedly. This surge in contributions from outsiders draws upon a different scientific corpus and is disproportionately likely to be highly cited. While outsiders appear reluctant to challenge leadership within a field when the star is alive, the loss of a luminary provides an opportunity for fields to evolve in new directions that advance the frontier of knowledge within them.
Referência(s)