Restructuring Research: Communication Costs and the Democratization of University Innovation
发现Bitnet的采用促进了美国大学间的科研合作，但受益不均：中档大学通过与顶尖大学合作获益最多，且同城合作效应更强。
We report evidence that Bitnet adoption facilitated increased research collaboration between US universities. However, not all institutions benefited equally. Using panel data from seven top engineering journals, Bitnet connection records, and institution ranking data, we find that middle-tier universities were the primary beneficiaries; they benefited largely by increasing their collaboration with top-tier schools. Furthermore, we find that the magnitude of this effect is greatest for co-located pairs. Thus, the advent of Bitnet – and likely of subsequent networks – seems to have increased the role of middle-tier universities as producers of new knowledge in the national innovation system.