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The role of conferences on the pathway to academic impact: Evidence from a natural experiment

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Listed:
  • Fernanda L. L. de Leon

    (University of Kent)

  • Ben McQuillin

    (University of East Anglia)

Abstract

This paper provides evidence for the role of conferences in generating visibility for academic work, using a ‘natural experiment’: the last-minute cancellation – due to ‘Hurricane Isaac’ – of the 2012 American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting. We assembled a dataset containing outcomes of 15,624 articles scheduled to be presented between 2009 and 2012 at the APSA meetings or at a comparator annual conference (that of the Midwest Political Science Association). Our estimates are quantified in difference-in-difference analyses: first using the comparator meetings as a control, then exploiting heterogeneity in a measure of session attendance, within the APSA meetings. We observe significant ‘conference effects’: on average, articles gain 17-26 downloads in the 15 months after being presented in a conference. The effects are larger for papers authored by scholars affiliated to lower tier universities and scholars in the early stages of their career. Our findings are robust to several tests.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernanda L. L. de Leon & Ben McQuillin, 2014. "The role of conferences on the pathway to academic impact: Evidence from a natural experiment," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 14-08, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    • Handle: RePEc:uea:wcbess:14-08
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Kudlow & Matthew Cockerill & Danielle Toccalino & Devin Bissky Dziadyk & Alan Rutledge & Aviv Shachak & Roger S. McIntyre & Arun Ravindran & Gunther Eysenbach, 2017. "Online distribution channel increases article usage on Mendeley: a randomized controlled trial," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1537-1556, September.
    2. Biermann, Marcus, 2024. "Remote talks: Changes to economics seminars during COVID-19," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Kang, Yankun & Leng, Xuan & Liao, Yunxiang & Zheng, Shilin, 2024. "Information disclosure, spillovers, and knowledge accumulation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Rose, Michael E. & Opolot, Daniel C. & Georg, Co-Pierre, 2022. "Discussants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    5. Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2021. "Conference presentations and academic publishing," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 228-254.
    6. Asier Minondo, 2022. "Comments are welcome," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(3), pages 1565-1582, March.
    7. John Manuel Barrios & Laura Giuliano & Andrew J. Leone, 2020. "In Living Color: Does In-Person Screening Affect Who Gets Hired?," Working Papers 2020-38, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    8. Asier Minondo, 2020. "Who presents and where? An analysis of research seminars in US economics departments," Papers 2001.10561, arXiv.org, revised May 2020.
    9. Biermann, Marcus, 2021. "Remote talks: changes to economics seminars during Covid-19," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114429, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Raquel Campos & Fernanda Leon & Ben McQuillin, 2018. "Lost in the Storm: The Academic Collaborations That Went Missing in Hurricane ISSAC," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(610), pages 995-1018, May.
    11. Marcus Biermann, 2021. "Remote talks: changes to economics seminars during Covid-19," CEP Discussion Papers dp1759, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Spiegel, Yossi & Toivanen, Otto, 2022. "From conference submission to publication and citations: Evidence from the EARIE conference," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Yin, Xingbo & Zong, Xiaohua, 2022. "International student mobility spurs scientific research on foreign countries: Evidence from international students studying in China," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    14. Rose, Michael E. & Georg, Co-Pierre, 2021. "What 5,000 acknowledgements tell us about informal collaboration in financial economics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    15. Baruffaldi, Stefano & Poege, Felix, 2020. "A Firm Scientific Community: Industry Participation and Knowledge Diffusion," IZA Discussion Papers 13419, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    effects of conferences; diffusion of scientific knowledge;

    JEL classification:

    • O39 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Other
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • L38 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Policy

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