Collaboration-based scientific productivity: evidence from Nobel laureates

Nobel laureates offer a range of expertise to researchers interested in generating scientific productivity by capitalizing on their ability to collaborate with other outstanding researchers. However, current knowledge on whether and how a scholar’s research areas can be leveraged for scientific productivity has not been examined empirically. There has been scant conceptualization of the underlying processes responsible for utilizing research areas, and the results have been equivocal. We propose and test the intermediate mechanisms of number of collaborations and collaboration diversity as two distinctive capabilities that may explain how a research area drives a scientist’s productivity. Our conceptual model posits that the link between research areas and scientific productivity is neither simple nor direct. An empirical test on Nobel laureates demonstrates the complexity of innovation generation. Two pathways from research areas to scientific productivity are revealed: number of collaborations and collaboration diversity both mediate the link, but the role of research areas is negatively moderated by the scholar’s dependence on external knowledge to their academic collaboration. Our theory is thereby confirmed. Finally, expected findings and contributions are also discussed.