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Human and social capital accumulation within research infrastructures: The case of CERN
Author(s) -
Catalano Gelsomina,
Giffoni Francesco,
Morretta Valentina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
annals of public and cooperative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-8292
pISSN - 1370-4788
DOI - 10.1111/apce.12317
Subject(s) - salary , human capital , large hadron collider , investment (military) , work (physics) , business , social capital , public relations , economics , political science , economic growth , engineering , sociology , social science , market economy , politics , nuclear physics , physics , law , mechanical engineering
The contribution to human and social capital accumulation is one of the most important socio‐economic benefits of public investment in Research Infrastructures. Sure enough, these large scientific enterprises are exceptional incubators of human and social capital, especially for early‐career researchers who have the opportunity to gain new skills and expand their network of contacts in highly prestigious and challenging workplaces. This paper explores the contribution of spending a period of study and/or work at the Large Hadron Collider of CERN to the expected future lifelong salary of early‐career researchers. Previous studies are here extended by using three sources of data: primary data collected through a survey to CERN Alumni, a survey to team leaders who supervised early‐career researchers at CERN, and secondary data salary information. Findings show that an experience‐based learning process at CERN is instrumental in developing skills that are needed by the economy and reveal an expected salary premium between 5% and 11%. Such human capital effect seems more important than a pure networking and reputational effect.