Political Pressure and the Direction of Research: Evidence from China’s Academia

Study ID sspp-2021-0024-v1

General Details

Project Political Pressure and the Direction of Research: Evidence from China’s Academia
Study ID sspp-2021-0024-v1
Study Title Political Pressure and the Direction of Research: Evidence from China’s Academia
Authors Daron Acemoglu, David Y. Yang, Jie Zhou
Completion Time 10 Minutes
Close Date Oct. 31, 2021
Discipline Economics
Field Political Economics
Country China
Abstract
Freedom of inquiry is often considered to be the foundation of innovation. Does political pressure impact the direction of academic research? Academia in Mainland China provides an ideal setting for such an inquiry. Fostering innovation has been a central aim of the Chinese Communist Party, which recognizes the importance of technological progress for continued economic growth and has substantially increased funding for academic research during the past decades. We collect comprehensive data on the scientific publications of researchers in the leading 109 Chinese universities, and on leadership changes in these universities. We use Natural Language Processing methods to measure the similarity between faculty members’ and their leaders’ research portfolios. We then estimate the effects of new academic “leaders” (e.g., deans or department heads) on the type of research conducted by impacted faculty members across a large number of disciplines and Chinese universities.

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Citation
Acemoglu, Daron, Yang, David Y., and Jie Zhou. 2021. "Political Pressure and the Direction of Research: Evidence from China’s Academia." Social Science Prediction Platform. July 15. https://socialscienceprediction.org/s/c0b6z2