Estimating the impact of a star scientist move on their own research productivity

Star scientists can have significant impacts on their institutions both through their own productivity and through spillover effects on their co-located colleagues. For newly recruited stars, previous research has shown evidence of positive productivity effects on incumbent scientists in the institutions they join. This paper complements this research by using the same data source to examine the effects of a star’s move on their own research performance in three small open economies (SOEs) - Ireland, Denmark, and New Zealand. We estimate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) using an event-study difference-in-differences design that compares star movers with non-mover stars who exhibit parallel pre-move productivity trends. Analysing the quality-adjusted productivity of 161-star scientists, we find that moving to a new institution substantially reduces their productivity in the year of the move by 58%, and this effect persists in subsequent years, with an estimated reduction of 42% after four years. One explanation consistent with this combination of negative own-productivity effects and positive peer-spillover effects is that the arriving stars prioritise institution-building activities at their new institution rather than their own research output.