Dongbo Shi - research&data

I study science, technology, and innovation in China, particularly how to design science policies to accelerate scientific progress and commercialize scientific discoveries to drive economic growth. My research aims to examine how policy tools have contributed to China’s rise as a scientific superpower. This question is vital not only for empirically assessing the strengths and weaknesses of China's science policy framework but also for theoretically exploring the incentives that drive scientists. To support my research projects, I develop a set of indicators, algorithms, and datasets, which I make available to further advance studies on innovation in China. Although my research primarily focuses on China, it holds broader policy and theoretical relevance for many developing countries. China's approach to science, technology, and innovation can offer valuable insights for these nations in shaping public policies aimed at fostering innovation and promoting economic growth.

Three objectives summarize my research agenda:

• Buidling data and algorithm infrastructure for studies on innovation in China.

• Exploring the China’s competitiveness in global scientists labor market.

• Refining the selection and incentive mechanisms embedded in science polices that motivate Chinese scientists.

Infrastructure for studies on China's innovation

1. Wei, Chunli, Jiang Li, and Dongbo Shi. “Quantifying revolutionary discoveries: Evidence from Nobel prize-winning papers.” Information Processing & Management 60.3 (2023): 103252.

2. Dongbo Shi, Ronald Rousseau, Liu Yang and Jiang Li. “A journal’s impact factor is influenced by changes in publication delays of citing journals.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 68.3 (2017): 780-789.

3. Li, Jiang, and Dongbo Shi. “Sleeping beauties in genius work: When were they awakened?.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 67.2 (2016): 432-440.

4. Jiang Li, Dongbo Shi, Star X. Zhao, Fred Y. Ye. “A study of the ‘heartbeat spectra’ for ‘sleeping beauties’.” Journal of informetrics 8.3 (2014): 493-502.

5. Weichen Liu, Dongbo Shi, Jiang Li “Name Disambiguation for Chinese Authors Using Their Career Experience and Citations Networks”. Journal of Information Resources Management 10.6 (2020): 82-98+100. (in Chinese)

6. Dongbo Shi, Kenneth Huang, Jianwei Dang, Sifan Zhou, “The Chinese patent citation dataset and its usage in measuring patent value and technology spillovers”, Working Paper, to be submitted to Strategic Management Journal

7. Jianwei Dang, Yanjun Ding, Dongbo Shi, Fan Zhang, “Disambiguation of Inventors in CNIPA Invention Patents” Working Paper, to be submitted to Strategic Management Journal

8. Dongbo Shi, Tong Tong, “An Open Dataset of Chinese Name-to-Gender Associations for Gender Prediction in Broad Scientific Research” Working Paper, to be submitted to Scientific Data

China in the global scientists’ labor market

1. Dongbo Shi, Weichen Liu, and Yanbo Wang. "Has China’s Young Thousand Talents program been successful in recruiting and nurturing top-caliber scientists?." Science 379.6627 (2023): 62-65.

- The First Chinese cover feature article in Science

- Reported by Nature, Times Higher Education, and USA Today.

2. Junling Huang, Dongbo Shi, Lan Xue, Venkatesh Narayanamurti. "A case study of a world-class research project accomplished in China: discovery of the quantum anomalous Hall effect." National Science Review 3.4 (2016): 404-408.

3. Dongbo Shi, Lan Xue, Jiyu Zhang, “The rising impact of Chinese science” Working Paper, to be submitted to Nature

Selection and incentive mechanisms for Chinese scientists

1. Richard Freeman, Dongbo Shi, Runsheng Wang, Sifan Zhou, “Piece-rate pay for science” Working Paper, to be submitted to Quarterly Journal of Economics.

2. Yeyanran Ge, Dongbo Shi, Wei Yu, Jianwei Dang, “China’s Bayh-Dole Act and university patenting: a contingency perspective”, rejected & resubmitted in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal