Citations, funding and influence in Energy-Policy research on Developing Economies
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Authors
Ali, M.
Couto, L. C.
Unsworth, S.
Debnath, R.
Publication Date
2022-03-05Series
Cambridge Working Papers in Economics
Janeway Institute Working Paper Series
Publisher
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge
Type
Working Paper
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Ali, M., Couto, L. C., Unsworth, S., & Debnath, R. (2022). Citations, funding and influence in Energy-Policy research on Developing Economies. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.82499
Abstract
Energy research seeking to influence policy in low- and -middle-income countries (LMICs) is often funded by – and conceptualised by authors in - institutions from high-income countries (HICs). Research agendas and policy recommendations determined in HICs potentially yield the most influence on policymaking for LMICs. This leaves a multidimensional gap in how LMICs frame, contextualise, evidence and enact policy processes. The unique contribution of this paper is analysing the dynamics of prevalent energy research on LMICs through a multi-method approach using bibliometric, network science and regression-based techniques. An innovative data-driven framework was established using a sample of 6,636 papers from the Web of Science database, combined with journal impact data from Scimago Journal Ranking and country economic data from the World Bank. Results show the existence of a cycle of imbalances across research practices. Most papers recommending energy policy for LMICs have a first author based in a HIC, funded by a HIC institution. Total citations of articles on energy policy in LMICs increase with the GDP of the first author’s country (a 1% increase in GDP is correlated with a 0.68% increase in total citations). Funders support authors based in countries of the same income band as them, or higher. Therefore, we recommend revising research practices and HIC funding policies to place local actors and knowledge at the heart of energy policy research, enabling high-impact policymaking in LMICs.
Keywords
Energy policy, energy research, developing countries, science collaboration, funding
Identifiers
CWPE2216, JIWP2207
This record's DOI: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.82499
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335060
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