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Returns to Teamwork and Professional Networks: Evidence from Economic Research

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  • Kevin Devereux

Abstract

Teamwork is growing in developed economies, and workers in teams are increasingly compensated according to team output. Because parsing individual contributions to teamwork is difficult, I focus on scholarly economics research, which lists contributing authors. I use turnover to identify team value-added: an author's average output quality conditional on the value-added of coauthors. Linking the universe of scholarly economic research output to publicly available payroll records, I study the effect of value-added on salaries. Strikingly, coauthors' value-added has a greater effect on salaries than does own value-added, suggesting the value of professional networks dominates the effect of discounting contributions based on coauthor quality. Moreover, authors are compensated for the solo-authored output of their coauthors - which can not be reasonably attributed to them - demonstrating the value of professional networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Devereux, 2021. "Returns to Teamwork and Professional Networks: Evidence from Economic Research," Working Papers 202101, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202101
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/11867
    File Function: First version, 2021
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    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Economics Profession > Publishing in Economics > Teams

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    Cited by:

    1. David J. Deming, 2022. "Four Facts about Human Capital," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 75-102, Summer.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; Teamwork; Productivity; Performance pay; Non-partite networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

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