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The credit incentive to be a maverick
1Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA, UK.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
|September 28, 2019
Summary
Credit incentives may not effectively steer scientific communities toward a desired mix of mavericks and followers. A simple model suggests fixed mixtures are likely, regardless of reward strategies for scientists.
Area of Science:
- Scientific community dynamics
- Reward systems in science
Background:
- A common distinction exists between risk-taking scientists (mavericks) and detail-oriented scientists (followers).
- Recent research explores the ideal proportion of mavericks and followers within scientific communities.
- Steering communities toward this ideal mixture is a key objective.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of credit incentives in shaping the composition of scientific communities.
- To determine if reward manipulation can lead to a desirable balance of mavericks and followers.
Main Methods:
- Development of a simplified theoretical model.
- Analysis of scientist behavior based on reward prioritization (mavericks) versus speed and risk (followers).
Main Results:
- A fixed mixture of mavericks and followers is identified that is unlikely to be optimal.
- Credit incentives, as modeled, cannot alter this fixed mixture.
- Potential workarounds to this limitation have significant drawbacks.
Conclusions:
- Credit incentives are less promising for creating desired scientific community structures than previously thought.
- The theoretical model suggests inherent limitations in using rewards to engineer specific scientist type ratios.
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