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Fame and the fortune of academic economists: How the market rewards influential research in economics

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  • Michael J. Hilmer
  • Michael R. Ransom
  • Christiana E. Hilmer

Abstract

We analyze the pay and position of 1009 faculty members who teach in doctoral‐granting economics departments at 53 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 subsequently cited in published research articles. We find that research influence, as measured by various measures of total citations, is a remarkably strong predictor of the salary and the prestige of the department in which professors are employed. We also examine the effect of coauthorship. Surprisingly, we find no salary penalty for sharing authorship; however, in terms of prestige of employing department, coauthorship is fully discounted.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J. Hilmer & Michael R. Ransom & Christiana E. Hilmer, 2015. "Fame and the fortune of academic economists: How the market rewards influential research in economics," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(2), pages 430-452, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:82:y:2015:i:2:p:430-452
    DOI: 10.1002/soej.12037
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Fame! Fortune! Markets!
      by René Böheim in Econ Tidbits on 2012-11-15 13:17:00

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Ong & Ho Fai Chan & Benno Torgler & Yu (Alan) Yang, 2015. "Endogenous selection into single and coauthorships by surname initials in economics and management," CREMA Working Paper Series 2015-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    2. Sparber, Chad, 2019. "Substitution between groups of highly-educated, foreign-born, H-1B workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Jelnov, Pavel & Weiss, Yoram, 2022. "Influence in economics and aging," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Sebastian Hager & Carlo Schwarz & Fabian Waldinger, 2023. "Measuring Science: Performance Metrics and the Allocation of Talent," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 455, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    6. William Luther, 2014. "Evenly rotating economy: A new modeling technique for an old equilibrium construct," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 403-417, December.
    7. Gibson, John, 2014. "Returns to articles versus pages in academic publishing: Do salary-setters show ‘article illusion’?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 343-346.
    8. Andrew Hussey & Sheena Murray & Wendy Stock, 2022. "Gender, coauthorship, and academic outcomes in economics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 465-484, April.
    9. Le, Thanh & Pham, Hanh & Mai, Sau & Vu, Ngoc, 2022. "Frontier academic research, industrial R&D and technological progress: The case of OECD countries," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

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