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Meritocracy in Academic Labor Markets: A Comparison of Three Fields

Author

Listed:
  • Michael R Ransom

    (Brigham Young University)

  • Michael J. Hilmer

    (San Diego State University)

  • Christiana E. Hilmer

    (San Diego State University)

Abstract

We analyze the pay of faculty members of economics, mathematics, and marketing departments at large public universities in the United States. Using the Web of Science, we have identified the journal articles published by these scholars and the number of times each of these articles has been cited by other scholars in published work. We find that the frequency of highly-cited papers, as measured by the Hirsch index, is a strong predictor of pay. Furthermore, we show that this impact varies significantly across these disciplines, with pay in economics being much more strongly linked to a professor’s publication success than is the case for the other fields. This pattern holds within departments and across departments.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael R Ransom & Michael J. Hilmer & Christiana E. Hilmer, 2022. "Meritocracy in Academic Labor Markets: A Comparison of Three Fields," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(2), pages 465-481, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecin:v:20:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10888-021-09502-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-021-09502-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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