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China's “Great Leap Forward” in Science and Engineering

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  • Richard B. Freeman
  • Wei Huang

Abstract

In the past two decades China leaped from bit player in global science and engineering (S&E) to become the world's largest source of S&E graduates and the second largest spender on R&D and second largest producer of scientific papers. As a latecomer to modern science and engineering, China trailed the US and other advanced countries in the quality of its universities and research but was improving both through the mid-2010s. This paper presents evidence that China's leap benefited greatly from the country's positive response to global opportunities to educate many of its best and brightest overseas and from the deep educational and research links it developed with the US. The findings suggest that global mobility of people and ideas allowed China to reach the scientific and technological frontier much faster and more efficiently.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard B. Freeman & Wei Huang, 2015. "China's “Great Leap Forward” in Science and Engineering," NBER Working Papers 21081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21081
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Song, Yang, 2018. "Intended and unintended effects of student performance measurement reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 133-152.
    2. Zhenshan Yang & Yinghao Pan & Dongqi Sun & Li Ma, 2022. "Human Capital and International Capital Flows: Evidence from China," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 74-107, January.
    3. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2017. "A New Era of Pollution Progress in Urban China?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 71-92, Winter.
    4. Orazbayev, Sultan, 2017. "Immigration barriers and net brain drain," MPRA Paper 78058, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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