Using panel data for 36,652 research articles published by authors from 798 institutions in 5 countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru), we analyze the role of access to academic works in developing countries. A focus will be drawn to the impact of a recent initiative (OARE) that seeks to provide research institutions in developing countries with free or reduced fee access to scientific literature in the field of environmental science. We use bibliometric data from Web of Science and institutions’ OARE registration data provided by the World Health Organization. We find a positive treatment effect, revealing that OARE institutions publish more as compared to non-OARE institutions. Most interestingly, we find that registration to OARE has increased competition between researchers within and between countries in different regions in the developing world. In particular, our evidence reveals a crowding-out effect for researchers from non-member institutions. (Authors: Frank Mueller-Langer/Marc Scheufen/Patrick Waelbroeck)
