Unique causal contribution of China to network reorganization

Ascertain whether China’s participation uniquely caused the observed reorganization of the global scientific co-authorship network, including changes in clustering, k-core expansion, and global efficiency, rather than similar effects attributable to other major scientific nations or general network maturation.

Background

Using Granger causality, the authors find that China’s early participation predicts subsequent structural changes across multiple metrics and fields. However, they caution that similar patterns are observed for other nations and that Granger tests show temporal precedence rather than true causation.

They explicitly state the limitation that their analysis cannot establish China as the unique cause of the reorganization, leaving open the question of China’s distinct causal role.