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Modelling the Basic Research Competitiveness Index (BR-CI) with an application to the biomass energy field

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Zhang

    (South China University of Technology)

  • Mingting Kou

    (University of Science and Technology Beijing)

  • Kaihua Chen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Oxford University)

  • Jiancheng Guan

    (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuchen Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

How to effectively make an international comparison of the basic research capacity in a specific field is an urgent problem for a country to monitor the science and technology activities. In this paper, we develop a composite index, that is, Basic Research Competitiveness Index (BR-CI), for evaluating the countries’ basic research performance versus the world average level over time. For this purpose, the three sub-indexes, namely, Activity Index (AcI), Attractive Index (AtI) and Efficiency Index (EI), are proposed, which are respectively used to assess the countries’ research efforts, impacts, efficiency versus the world average level in a particular science field over time. The proposed indicator system can present the cross-time and cross-country comparison of research performance, which can quantify the basic research competiveness relative to the world average level, and describe the competitive landscape among countries in the world. As the first application, this paper employs the four indicators, AcI, AtI, EI and BR-CI, to measure and compare the five leading countries’ research performances in the biomass energy field. In short, the modelling and empirical study in this paper not only offers some new references for fully exploring the international competition in the basic research of biomass energy field, but also provides some new perspectives and ideas for examining the international competitiveness in the basic research field of science and technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Zhang & Mingting Kou & Kaihua Chen & Jiancheng Guan & Yuchen Li, 2016. "Modelling the Basic Research Competitiveness Index (BR-CI) with an application to the biomass energy field," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(3), pages 1221-1241, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:108:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2042-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-2042-y
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