Specific and General Information Sharing Among Academic Scientists

36 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2009 Last revised: 8 May 2022

See all articles by Carolin Häussler

Carolin Häussler

University of Passau

Lin Jiang

University of Missouri at Columbia - Department of Management

Jerry G. Thursby

Emory University - Department of Economics; Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Marie C. Thursby

Georgia Institute of Technology - Strategic Management Area; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: September 2009

Abstract

We provide theoretical and empirical evidence on the factors that influence the willingness of academic scientists to share research results. We distinguish between two types of sharing, specific sharing in which a researcher shares her data or materials with another and general sharing in which scientists report results to the entire community (as in conference presentations). We present two simple games in which scientists research a problem of scientific merit (with an associated prize of academic and/or commercial value). In both cases, the scientists have intermediate research results but none has solved the entire problem.We test these models using a unique survey of bio-scientists in the UK and Germany regarding their willingness to "share." Our results generally support both models. In both, sharing is negatively related to competition and the importance of patents. In other respects they differ markedly. For example, large teams are more likely to share specifically but less likely to share generally. Rank does not matter for general sharing, but it does for specific sharing, where untenured faculty are less likely to share. One important implication is that policies designed to enhance sharing must be tailored to the type of sharing.

Suggested Citation

Haeussler, Carolin and Jiang, Lin and Thursby, Jerry G. and Thursby, Marie C., Specific and General Information Sharing Among Academic Scientists (September 2009). NBER Working Paper No. w15315, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1469110

Carolin Haeussler

University of Passau ( email )

Innstrasse 27
Passau, 94032
Germany

Lin Jiang

University of Missouri at Columbia - Department of Management ( email )

514 Cornell Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
United States

Jerry G. Thursby

Emory University - Department of Economics ( email )

1602 Fishburne Drive
Atlanta, GA 30322
United States

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

Marie C. Thursby (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology - Strategic Management Area ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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