James Stewart (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} semiclever) wrote,@ 2008-03-06 12:45:00 |
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Research Arbitrage
I've noticed a trend in some research talks I've been attending lately. There are lots of people out there that simply take ideas from one field (or domain as seems to be the buzzword du jour) and apply them in a different field. Like taking a technique from DNA matching in bioinformatics and applying it to internet search, or the other way around.
This is a great way to get a publication without much risk or work. One could argue that it's not very creative, but I think this approach actually has a lot of value. At its best it introduces new powerful techniques to a field that may be stuck on an unproductive approach.
I'd like to think I've coined the term research arbitrage to describe this phenomenon. Like a financial arbitrage it exploits an information asymmetry to give advantage to a player. Also like financial arbitrage it tends to bring markets (fields in this case) closer to a common level of price (or information).
I've noticed a trend in some research talks I've been attending lately. There are lots of people out there that simply take ideas from one field (or domain as seems to be the buzzword du jour) and apply them in a different field. Like taking a technique from DNA matching in bioinformatics and applying it to internet search, or the other way around.
This is a great way to get a publication without much risk or work. One could argue that it's not very creative, but I think this approach actually has a lot of value. At its best it introduces new powerful techniques to a field that may be stuck on an unproductive approach.
I'd like to think I've coined the term research arbitrage to describe this phenomenon. Like a financial arbitrage it exploits an information asymmetry to give advantage to a player. Also like financial arbitrage it tends to bring markets (fields in this case) closer to a common level of price (or information).
