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The Matthew Effect for Cohorts of Economists

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  • Richard S. J. Tol

    (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
    Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Abstract

This paper applies the Ijiri-Simon test for systematic deviations from Gibrat’s Law to citation numbers of economists. It is found that often-cited researchers attract a new citation numbers that are disproportionate to the quality of their work. It is also found that this Matthew Effect is stronger for economists who started their academic career earlier.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard S. J. Tol, 2013. "The Matthew Effect for Cohorts of Economists," Working Paper Series 5513, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:sus:susewp:5513
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    File URL: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/economics/documents/wps-55-2013.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Birkmaier & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2014. "Der Matthäus-Effekt in der Ökonomie," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 67(17), pages 38-42, September.
    2. Lu, Wei & Ren, Yan & Huang, Yong & Bu, Yi & Zhang, Yuehan, 2021. "Scientific collaboration and career stages: An ego-centric perspective," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4).
    3. Christian Zimmermann, 2013. "Academic Rankings with RePEc," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-32, December.
    4. Katchanov, Yurij L. & Markova, Yulia V. & Shmatko, Natalia A., 2023. "Empirical demonstration of the Matthew effect in scientific research careers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    5. Birkmaier, Daniel & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2014. "The Matthew effect in economics reconsidered," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 880-889.
    6. Carlo D'Ippoliti, 2021. "“Many‐Citedness”: Citations Measure More Than Just Scientific Quality," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 1271-1301, December.
    7. Tol, Richard S.J., 2023. "Nobel begets Nobel in economics," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    8. Migheli, Matteo & Zotti, Roberto, 2020. "The strange case of the Matthew effect and beauty contests: Research evaluation and specialisation in Italian universities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Tie, Ying & Wang, Zheng, 2022. "Publish or perish? A tale of academic publications in Chinese universities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. David I. Stern & Richard S.J. Tol, 2018. "How to Count Citations If You Must: Comment," Working Paper Series 0118, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    11. Richard S.J. Tol, 2013. "Measuring catch-up growth in malnourished populations," Working Paper Series 6013, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    12. Jacek Bogocz & Andrzej Bak & Jaroslaw Polanski, 2014. "No free lunches in nature? An analysis of the regional distribution of the affiliations of Nature publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 547-568, October.
    13. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Ferrándiz & M. Dolores León & Pedro J. Moreno, 2017. "The geography of university scientific production in Europe: an exploration in the field of Food Science and Technology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 215-240, July.
    14. Rodrigo Dorantes-Gilardi & Aurora A. Ramírez-Álvarez & Diana Terrazas-Santamaría, 2023. "Is there a differentiated gender effect of collaboration with super-cited authors? Evidence from junior researchers in economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2317-2336, April.
    15. Tol, Richard S.J., 2013. "Identifying excellent researchers: A new approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 803-810.
    16. David I. Stern & Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "Depth and breadth relevance in citation metrics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(3), pages 961-977, July.
    17. Wang, Jian, 2014. "Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 329-339.

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    Keywords

    Matthew Effect;

    JEL classification:

    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics

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