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The Albuquerque model and efficiency indicators in national scientific productivity with respect to manpower and funding in science

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Abstract

Due to recession in the world economy there is a trend towards a reduction in growth of R&D expenditure in the G7 countries. At the same time countries like China and Korea are investing more in scientific research. We compare the differences in the inputs to science for different countries and explore the level of efficiency in the output of scientific papers with respect to inputs such as manpower and investment. We find that the EU countries are relatively more efficient than Japan, the USA and also China and Korea so far as the production of papers is concerned. However, if efficiency is considered in terms of patents, Japan Korea and the USA are ahead. We compare our results with Albuquerque’s model linking patent to paper ratios and development, and find significant deviations for some countries. We deduce that there has been a shift from publishing towards patenting in certain countries and link it to high contribution from the business sector to R&D expenditure. Preliminary results of this analysis have been presented in Basu (In Proceedings of the 14th International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) Conference, 2013).

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. A grant from CSIR for support under the Emeritus Scientist scheme is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. CSIR-National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Road, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Aparna Basu

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  1. Aparna Basu
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Correspondence to Aparna Basu.

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Basu, A. The Albuquerque model and efficiency indicators in national scientific productivity with respect to manpower and funding in science. Scientometrics 100, 531–539 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1254-2

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