Large universities carry with them several benefits. One of the key perks is having a sizeable number of professors under one roof. This allows for easier collaboration on papers and research, making the university and the professors more productive. However, new research suggests that new communication technologies may be changing this dynamic.
Researchers argue that distant co-authorship is like any other normal economic good of the economy. As prices go down people consume more of the good. With the advent of email and cheaper long distance rates, the cost of distant communication has fallen tremendously. (Not that collaboration isn’t still costly; scholars forego a significant amount of additional income when they choose distant co-authorship.)
Researchers conclude that as communication becomes cheaper, larger universities will lose some of their advantage over smaller universities. Since professors no longer need to live in the same city to produce high quality co-authored work, they will use other criteria in choosing universities – thus leading to a more even distribution of scholars across universities.
Source: Daniel S. Hamermesh and Sharon M. Oster, Tools or Toys? The Impact of High Technology on Scholarly Productivity, Economic Inquiry, Vol. 40, No. 4, October 2002.
For text http://ei.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/40/4/539
For more on Technology and Productivity http://www.ncpa.org/iss/eco/
FMF Policy Bulletin\12 November 2002
