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Reflections on the activity index and related indicators

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  • Rousseau, Ronald
  • Yang, Liying

Abstract

We point out some theoretical problems in the construction of the activity index and related indicators. Concretely, if the activity index is larger than one then it is, at least theoretically, possible to decrease its value by increasing the activity in that field. Although for some practical applications these problems do not seem to have serious consequences our investigation adds to the list of problematic indicators. As the problems we point out are due to the mathematical structure of this indicator our analysis also applies to all indicators formed in the same way, such as the revealed comparative advantage index or Balassa index.

Suggested Citation

  • Rousseau, Ronald & Yang, Liying, 2012. "Reflections on the activity index and related indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 413-421.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:6:y:2012:i:3:p:413-421
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2012.01.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lin Zhang & Ronald Rousseau & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2011. "Document-type country profiles," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(7), pages 1403-1411, July.
    2. Denis Bouyssou & Thierry Marchant, 2011. "Ranking scientists and departments in a consistent manner," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(9), pages 1761-1769, September.
    3. Alex Hoen & Jan Oosterhaven, 2006. "On the measurement of comparative advantage," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 40(3), pages 677-691, August.
    4. Suzy Ramanana-Rahary & Michel Zitt & Ronald Rousseau, 2009. "Aggregation properties of relative impact and other classical indicators: Convexity issues and the Yule-Simpson paradox," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(2), pages 311-327, May.
    5. Larivière, Vincent & Gingras, Yves, 2011. "Averages of ratios vs. ratios of averages: An empirical analysis of four levels of aggregation," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 392-399.
    6. Liang, Liming & Rousseau, Ronald, 2007. "Transformations of basic publication–citation matrices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 249-255.
    7. Lundberg, Jonas, 2007. "Lifting the crown—citation z-score," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 145-154.
    8. Waltman, Ludo & van Eck, Nees Jan & van Leeuwen, Thed N. & Visser, Martijn S. & van Raan, Anthony F.J., 2011. "Towards a new crown indicator: Some theoretical considerations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 37-47.
    9. Opthof, Tobias & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2010. "Caveats for the journal and field normalizations in the CWTS (“Leiden”) evaluations of research performance," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 423-430.
    10. Waltman, L. & van Eck, N.J.P., 2009. "A Taxonomy of Bibliometric Performance Indicators Based on the Property of Consistency," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-014-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    11. Thomas Vollrath, 1991. "A theoretical evaluation of alternative trade intensity measures of revealed comparative advantage," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 127(2), pages 265-280, June.
    12. Xiaojun Hu & Ronald Rousseau, 2009. "A comparative study of the difference in research performance in biomedical fields among selected Western and Asian countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(2), pages 475-491, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Harzing, Anne-Wil & Giroud, Axèle, 2014. "The competitive advantage of nations: An application to academia," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-42.
    2. Grisel Zacca-González & Zaida Chinchilla-Rodríguez & Benjamín Vargas-Quesada, 2018. "Medical scientific output and specialization in Latin American countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(3), pages 1635-1650, June.
    3. Joel Emanuel Fuchs & Thomas Heinze, 2022. "Two-dimensional mapping of university profiles in research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7215-7228, December.
    4. Lili Yuan & Yanni Hao & Minglu Li & Chunbing Bao & Jianping Li & Dengsheng Wu, 2018. "Who are the international research collaboration partners for China? A novel data perspective based on NSFC grants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 401-422, July.
    5. Abramo, Giovanni & D'Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2022. "Revealing the scientific comparative advantage of nations: Common and distinctive features," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    6. Nestor Gandelman & Osiris J. Parcero & Matilde Pereira & Flavia Roldán, 2021. "Ventajas comparativas reveladas en disciplinas científicas y tecnológicas en Uruguay," Documentos de Investigación 125, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    7. Ronald Rousseau, 2019. "Balassa = revealed competitive advantage = activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(3), pages 1835-1836, December.
    8. Pranpreya Sriwannawit & Ulf Sandström, 2015. "Large-scale bibliometric review of diffusion research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1615-1645, February.
    9. S. L. Sangam & Uma B. Arali & C. G. Patil & Ronald Rousseau, 2018. "Growth of the hepatitis literature over the period 1976–2015: What can the relative priority index teach us?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 351-368, April.
    10. Liang, Zhentao & Ba, Zhichao & Mao, Jin & Li, Gang, 2023. "Research complexity increases with scientists’ academic age: Evidence from library and information science," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    11. Dag W. Aksnes & Thed N. Leeuwen & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2014. "The effect of booming countries on changes in the relative specialization index (RSI) on country level," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1391-1401, November.
    12. Joel Emanuel Fuchs & Gunnar Sivertsen & Ronald Rousseau, 2021. "Measuring the relative intensity of collaboration within a network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(10), pages 8673-8682, October.
    13. Martin Grančay & Tomáš Dudáš & Ladislav Mura, 2022. "Revealed comparative advantages in academic publishing of “old” and “new” European Union Member States 1998–2018," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(3), pages 1247-1271, March.
    14. Elmira Janavi & Mohammad Javad Mansourzadeh & Mojgan Samandar Ali Eshtehardi, 2020. "A methodology for developing scientific diversification strategy of countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2229-2264, December.
    15. Valenciano, Jaime De Pablo & Uriarte, Maria Mercedes Capobianco & Battistuzzi, Miguel Angel Giacinti, 2017. "South Africa’s competitiveness against its main competitors in the market of pears imported by the EU28," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 56(2), March.

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