Toward scientific collaboration: A cost-benefit perspective

Abstract

This paper explores the factors influencing scientists' persistent collaboration. More specifically, we employ Social Exchange Theory to examine the relationship between scholars' prior collaborative experiences and their subsequent collaborative behavior. Integrated with Cost-Benefit Theory, this study utilizes a comprehensive cost-benefit framework to deconstruct the elements affecting collaboration into two main dimensions: costs and benefits. Leveraging a large-scale dataset of scientific papers, we empirically test our framework, revealing the significant impact of previous collaboration's benefits and costs on the persistence of scientists' collaboration. Our findings indicate that production, economic, and informational factors play a substantial role in promoting persistent collaboration. Conversely, social factors exhibit a notable negative influence on persistent collaboration. Within the dimensions of time and effort, besides a roughly inverse U-shaped relationship between research topic proximity and persistent collaboration, geographical distance, gender, and age all exert adverse effects on enduring collaboration. Opportunity costs also pose a disadvantage to persistent collaboration. Furthermore, we discover that these influencing factors demonstrate heterogeneity in their impact on scholars' persistent collaborative behavior at various stages of their academic careers. Our results provide valuable insights into understanding the dynamics and complexities of collaborative behavior.