Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Barnard, Helena
Author-Email: barnardh@gibs.co.za
Author-Workplace-Name: Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of
	 Pretoria
Author-Name: Cowan, Robin
Author-Email: cowan@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and BETA, Université
	 de Strasbourg
Author-Name: Muller, Moritz
Author-Email: m-mueller@ethz.ch
Author-Workplace-Name: ETH Zurich
Title: Global excellence at the expense of local relevance, or a bridge between two 
	 worlds? Research in science and technology in the developing world
Abstract: Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to 
	 upgrading locally, or do they disengage from the local context? The 
	 paper investigates the scientific collaborations of university-based 
	 science and technology researchers in the database of the South African 
	 National Research Foundation (NRF), and analyses the co-authorships of 
	 researchers who were ranked by the NRF during the 2001 to 2007 period. 
	 To establish the extent to which a researcher can access knowledge 
	 outside the South African academic science and technology research 
	 community, and share it inside that community, we develop a measure of 
	 'gatekeeping'. The evidence suggests that there is not a local/global 
	 trade-off in knowledge creation in academia in the developing world, and 
	 that the world-leading researchers in developing countries may play an 
	 especially important role as conduits of new knowledge in their country.
Classification-JEL: O31, O32, O33, O55
Keywords: science and technology, research, upgrading, developing countries,
	 research collaboration
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2010
Number: 2010-051
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2010/wp2010-051.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2010051