Purpose:This study investigates the impact of domestic mobility on Chinese scientists’academic performance and explores the predictors influencing their chances of moving to more prestigious institutions.Design/metho...Purpose:This study investigates the impact of domestic mobility on Chinese scientists’academic performance and explores the predictors influencing their chances of moving to more prestigious institutions.Design/methodology/approach:Using publication and affiliation data from OpenAlex,we identified 2,896 scientists who relocated between cities in China from 2014 to 2017.We applied propensity score matching(PSM)to compare their academic outcomes post-mobility with a matched group of non-mobile peers.Multiple performance metrics were examined,including publication count,citation impact,number of collaborators,and university prestige.Ordered logistic regression was used to analyze factors influencing moves to higher-level institutions.Findings:Mobility enhances collaboration by increasing the number of coauthors but is associated with a short-term decline in citation impact.Scientists were more likely to move to lower-prestige universities.However,prior collaboration breadth and citation count positively predicted transitions to more prestigious institutions,while the number of publications did not.Research limitations:This study focuses on intra-national mobility within China from 2014 to 2017 and relies on quantitative data,lacking personal or qualitative variables such as gender,discipline-specific norms,or institutional culture.Data coverage for Chinese-language publications may also be limited.Practical implications:This research provides insights into academic hiring patterns and the trade-offs involved in scientist mobility.It offers valuable guidance for institutions aiming to enhance faculty recruitment and retention,as well as for researchers considering career transitions.Originality/value:This is a quantitative analysis of domestic scientist mobility in China using matched comparison and multi-dimensional academic indicators.The integration of university prestige metrics(Double First-Class and citation-based rankings)offers a nuanced view of career dynamics within the Chinese higher education system.展开更多
基金supported by grants from Shenzhen Polytechnic University Research(Fund No.6025310042 K)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.NSFC62006109 and NSFC12031005).
文摘Purpose:This study investigates the impact of domestic mobility on Chinese scientists’academic performance and explores the predictors influencing their chances of moving to more prestigious institutions.Design/methodology/approach:Using publication and affiliation data from OpenAlex,we identified 2,896 scientists who relocated between cities in China from 2014 to 2017.We applied propensity score matching(PSM)to compare their academic outcomes post-mobility with a matched group of non-mobile peers.Multiple performance metrics were examined,including publication count,citation impact,number of collaborators,and university prestige.Ordered logistic regression was used to analyze factors influencing moves to higher-level institutions.Findings:Mobility enhances collaboration by increasing the number of coauthors but is associated with a short-term decline in citation impact.Scientists were more likely to move to lower-prestige universities.However,prior collaboration breadth and citation count positively predicted transitions to more prestigious institutions,while the number of publications did not.Research limitations:This study focuses on intra-national mobility within China from 2014 to 2017 and relies on quantitative data,lacking personal or qualitative variables such as gender,discipline-specific norms,or institutional culture.Data coverage for Chinese-language publications may also be limited.Practical implications:This research provides insights into academic hiring patterns and the trade-offs involved in scientist mobility.It offers valuable guidance for institutions aiming to enhance faculty recruitment and retention,as well as for researchers considering career transitions.Originality/value:This is a quantitative analysis of domestic scientist mobility in China using matched comparison and multi-dimensional academic indicators.The integration of university prestige metrics(Double First-Class and citation-based rankings)offers a nuanced view of career dynamics within the Chinese higher education system.
