%0 Report
        %A Catalini, Christian
%A Fons-Rosen, Christian
%A Gaule, Patrick
        %T Did Cheaper Flights Change the Direction of Science?
        %D 2016
        %8 2016 Apr
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 9897
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp9897
        %X We test how a reduction in travel cost affects the rate and direction of scientific research. Using a fine-grained, scientist-level dataset within chemistry (1991-2012), we find that after Southwest Airlines enters a new route, scientific collaboration increases by 50%, an effect that is magnified when weighting output by quality. The benefits from the lower fares, however, are not uniform across scientist types: younger scientists and scientists that are more productive than their local peers respond the most. Thus, cheaper flights, by reducing frictions otherwise induced by geography and allowing for additional face-to-face interactions, seem to enable better matches over distance.
        %K temporary co-location
%K air travel
%K scientific collaboration
%K face-to-face meetings