From Research Groups to Cities: Scaling Properties of Knowledge Production in Colombia

Scaling relationships describe how system outputs change with size. Although these properties have been widely examined in cities and research organizations, evidence from Global South science systems remains limited. This study examines scaling relationships between research group size, municipal population, and knowledge production in Colombia. We use open-access data from Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation on researchers, research groups, and knowledge products, together with municipal population data from the National Office of Statistics. Power-law models were estimated using log-log OLS regressions. Scaling exponents were calculated for research groups and municipalities, with additional disaggregation by disciplinary area and knowledge product type. Research group size shows slightly super-linear scaling with total knowledge production (b=1.0), whereas municipal population exhibits stronger super-linear scaling (b=1.28). Disciplinary results are heterogeneous: agricultural sciences, humanities, and social sciences show stronger increasing returns, while medical and natural sciences scale approximately linearly. All individual knowledge product categories scale sub-linearly. These findings indicate that urban agglomeration and local research ecosystems play a stronger role in knowledge production than research-group size alone.