| Abstract: |
Given the recent efforts in several countries to reorganize the research
institutional setting to improve research productivity, our analysis addresses
the following questions: To which extent has the recent awareness over
international quality standards in economics around the world been reflected
in research performance? How have individual countries fared? Do research
quantity and quality indicators tell us the same story? We concentrate on
trends taking place since the beginning of the 1990s and rely on a very
comprehensive database of scientific journals, to provide a cross-country
comparison of the evolution of research in economics. Our findings indicate
that Europe is catching up with the US but, in terms of influential research,
the US maintains a dominant position. The main continental European countries,
Germany, France, Italy and Spain, experienced some of the largest growth rates
in economic scientific output. Other European countries, namely the UK,
Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, have shown remarkable progress
in per capita output. Collaborative research seems to be a key factor
explaining the relative success of some European countries, in particular when
it comes to publishing in top journals, attained predominantly through
international collaborations. |