The scientific standing of nations and its relationship with economic competitiveness

In the current knowledge-based economy, the abilities of the national research system are a key driver of the country’s competitiveness and socio-economic development. This paper compares the scientific standing of the OECD countries and eight other relevant economies. We use a bibliometric indicator of research performance, applied first at the individual level. This approach avoids the distortions of the aggregate-level analyses extant in literature and practice, which overlook the different publication intensities across research fields. We find a strong correlation between research performance and the economic competitiveness of nations and a moderate but significant correlation between research performance and the propensity to spend on research.