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A Field Experiment on Search Costs and the Formation of Scientific Collaborations

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin J. Boudreau

    (Northeastern University)

  • Tom Brady

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Ina Ganguli

    (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Patrick Gaule

    (CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic)

  • Eva Guinan

    (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School)

  • Anthony Hollenberg

    (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School)

  • Karim R. Lakhani

    (Harvard Business School and NBER)

Abstract

We present the results of a field experiment conducted at Harvard Medical School to understand the extent to which search costs affect matching among scientific collaborators. We generated exogenous variation in search costs for pairs of potential collaborators by randomly assigning individuals to 90-minute structured information-sharing sessions as part of a grant funding opportunity. We estimate that the treatment increases the probability of grant co-application of a given pair of researchers by 75%. The findings suggest that matching between scientists is subject to considerable friction, even in the case of geographically proximate scientists working in the same institutional context.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin J. Boudreau & Tom Brady & Ina Ganguli & Patrick Gaule & Eva Guinan & Anthony Hollenberg & Karim R. Lakhani, 2017. "A Field Experiment on Search Costs and the Formation of Scientific Collaborations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(4), pages 565-576, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:99:y:2017:i:4:p:565-576
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/REST_a_00676
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