On the Mechanics Behind Academic Progress Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Dr. rer. pol.) von der KIT-Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) genehmigte DISSERTATION von B.Sc. Wi.-Ing. Lars Herberholz Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 16.12.2020 Referent: Professor Dr. Berthold U. Wigger Korreferentin: Professor Dr. Nora Szech Karlsruhe, Dezember 2020 Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................................v List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ix 1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 2 Collapsing Stars and the Diffusion of Scientific Knowledge ............................................ 3 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Data and Research Design............................................................................................ 5 2.2.1 Data Compilation ............................................................................................. 5 2.2.2 The Scientific Elite ............................................................................................ 6 2.2.3 Matching Approach ......................................................................................... 9 2.3 Identification of Main Effects ..................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Outcome Paths .............................................................................................. 13 2.3.2 Econometric Model ....................................................................................... 15 2.3.3 Results ........................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Variations over the Scientific Spectrum ..................................................................... 18 2.4.1 Main Field Effects .......................................................................................... 18 2.4.2 Distinct Effect Channels ................................................................................. 22 2.5 Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 31 3 Efficiency of European Universities: A Case of Apples and Peers ................................. 35 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Related Literature ...................................................................................................... 36 3.3 Clustering Analysis ..................................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 Methodology ................................................................................................. 40 3.3.2 Data and Results ............................................................................................ 41 3.4 Statistical DEA Approach ............................................................................................ 47 3.5 Efficiency Estimation .................................................................................................. 49 3.5.1 Model Specification ....................................................................................... 49 3.5.2 Results ........................................................................................................... 51 3.6 Identification of Efficiency Drivers ............................................................................. 54 3.6.1 Model Specification ....................................................................................... 54 3.6.2 Results ........................................................................................................... 57 3.7 Robustness Analysis ................................................................................................... 59 3.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 63 iv Contents 4 Competitive Funding in Academia: Back to the Bags of Gold ....................................... 65 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Institutional Context and Data ................................................................................... 67 4.3 Determinants of Funding Success .............................................................................. 70 4.3.1 Econometric Foundations .............................................................................. 70 4.3.2 Model Specification ....................................................................................... 72 4.3.3 Results ........................................................................................................... 74 4.4 Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 79 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 83 References ........................................................................................................................ 85 Appendix A ....................................................................................................................... 99 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................... 125 Appendix C ..................................................................................................................... 135 List of Tables 2.1 Summary Statistics on Treatment Stars .............................................................................. 9 2.2 Summary Statistics on Matched Collaborators ................................................................. 11 2.3 Impact of Star Death on Collaborators’ Output ................................................................ 19 2.4 Impact of Star Death on Collaborators’ Output Beyond Joint Production ........................ 20 2.5 Effect Heterogeneity by Collaboration Frequency ............................................................ 23 2.6 Effect Heterogeneity by Editorial Influence ...................................................................... 24 2.7 Effect Heterogeneity in Geographical Space, Co-location Channel ................................... 26 2.8 Effect Heterogeneity in Subject Space .............................................................................. 27 2.9 Effect Heterogeneity by Collaborator Status ..................................................................... 28 2.10 Effect Heterogeneity in Geographical Space, US Channel ................................................. 30 3.1 Mean Composition of Research Output by Cluster ........................................................... 43 3.2 Summary Statistics by Cluster ........................................................................................... 47 3.3 Summary Statistics on Bias-corrected Efficiency Scores by Cluster .................................. 51 3.4 Mean and Median Bias-corrected Efficiency Scores by Country and Cluster .................... 53 3.5 Description and Summary Statistics on Covariates by Cluster .......................................... 56 3.6 Regression Results ............................................................................................................. 58 3.7 Summary Statistics on Silhouette Coefficients by Cluster ................................................. 60 3.8 Average Peer-group Composition by Cluster, Nearest Neighbourhood Approach ........... 60 3.9 Regression Results, Nearest Neighbourhood Approach .................................................... 61 3.10 Regression Results of Model Variants, Nearest Neighbourhood Approach ...................... 63 4.1 Summary Statistics on Higher Education Institutions ........................................................ 69 4.2 Regression Results ............................................................................................................. 75 4.3 Median Values by Type of Institution ................................................................................ 77 A.1 Classification of Scientific Fields ........................................................................................ 99 A.2 List of Treatment Stars .................................................................................................... 100 A.3 Summary Statistics on Matched Collaborators by Scientific Field ................................... 110 A.4 Robustness Checks .......................................................................................................... 111 A.5 Effect Heterogeneity by Collaboration Recency .............................................................. 116 A.6 Effect Heterogeneity by Collaboration Length ................................................................ 117 A.7 Effect Heterogeneity via Collaborator Status