Events at CERGE-EI

Let us invite you to a Brown Bag Seminar by Roman Dimakov on February 25, 2025, at 13:00 in room 6

Presenter: Roman Dimakov (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Title: "Effects of a Scientific Revolution on Productivity of Scientists: Empirical Evidence from the Discovery of Quantum Mechanics"

Abstract:
This paper investigates the impact of scientific revolutions on scientist productivity by examining the unexpected emergence of quantum mechanics between 1918 and 1932. Using historical correspondence data of quantum physicists, I construct a social network to proxy knowledge flow and measure scientists' exposure to the breakthrough based on their social proximity to key founders of quantum mechanics. I complement the social network data with publication and citation data of scientists from Clarivate’s Web of Science. A difference-in-differences with inverse propensity score weighting quantifies the effect of exposure to the scientific revolution. Results show that scientists with greater exposure to quantum mechanics ideas — measured by network distance to founders — published more papers and received more citations post-1925. The identification strategy leverages the unexpected and rapid development of quantum mechanics, which was unpredictable even to its founders, ensuring quasi-random variation in exposure. The findings highlight the role of social networks in disseminating revolutionary scientific ideas and their causal effect on individual productivity.