Interdisciplinary Center of Science and Technology Studies (IZWT), University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.
Institute of Sociology, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.
PLoS One. 2020 Sep 30;15(9):e0239805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239805. eCollection 2020.
Scientific and/or technical breakthroughs require the exploration of novel ideas and technologies. Yet, it has not been studied quantitatively how national institutional contexts either facilitate or stifle organizational support for exploration. Available qualitative evidence suggests that institutional contexts that exert weak control over universities and research organizations strengthen their capabilities to achieve scientific breakthroughs, while contexts with strong control constrain them. The paper is based on an analysis of the population of Nobel laureates in Physics, Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine. We examine to what extent existing qualitative findings for the biomedical sciences, which are partly based on Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine, can be substantiated both quantitatively and across the three Nobel Prize fields of science. We find that for most of the 20th century and the early 21st century, countries with weak institutional control (United Kingdom, United States) have outperformed those exerting strong control (France, Germany). These results are further corroborated when controlled by population sizes and by GDP per capita. In addition, these results hold not only for the biomedical sciences, but also for Physics and Chemistry. Furthermore, countries with weak institutional control have attracted many future Nobel laureates from countries with strong environments. In this regard, the United States appears to be a particularly attractive setting for conducting innovative research, and thus has been a magnet for young and promising scientists. However, future laureates working in institutional environments exerting weak control are not faster in accomplishing their prize-winning work compared to those laureates working in more restrictive institutional settings.
科学和/或技术突破需要探索新颖的想法和技术。然而，尚未定量研究国家制度背景是如何促进还是抑制组织对探索的支持。现有的定性证据表明，对大学和研究组织施加较弱控制的制度环境可以增强它们实现科学突破的能力，而控制较强的环境则会限制它们。本文基于对诺贝尔物理学、化学和生理学或医学奖得主群体的分析。我们考察了现有的定性发现在多大程度上可以在数量上和在三个诺贝尔科学领域得到证实，这些定性发现部分基于生理学或医学领域的诺贝尔奖得主。我们发现，在 20 世纪和 21 世纪初的大部分时间里，制度控制较弱的国家（英国、美国）的表现优于制度控制较强的国家（法国、德国）。当控制人口规模和人均国内生产总值时，这些结果得到了进一步证实。此外，这些结果不仅适用于生物医学科学，也适用于物理学和化学。此外，制度控制较弱的国家吸引了许多来自制度环境较强的国家的未来诺贝尔奖得主。在这方面，美国似乎是开展创新研究的一个特别有吸引力的环境，因此一直是年轻有为的科学家的磁铁。然而，与在更严格的制度环境中工作的获奖者相比，在制度环境较弱的环境中工作的未来获奖者在完成获奖工作方面并没有更快。
