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Job Market Stars

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Listed:
  • Brodeur, Abel
  • Kattan, Lamis
  • Musumeci, Marco

Abstract

Graduating economics PhDs face intense competition when seeking faculty or research positions at universities and research institutions. We examine the relationship between statistically significant results, arguably used as indicators of research quality in a competitive academic market, and academic hiring outcomes. We start by investigating the determinants of academic success by analyzing 604 job market papers (JMPs) from 2018-2019 to 2020- 2021. We then turn to the importance of statistical significance focusing on 150 empirical JMPs. We find evidence that 'marginally' significant results in JMPs are associated with higher academic placement likelihoods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a tighter job market strengthened this relationship without altering the p-hacking behavior of PhD candidates, suggesting that our results reflect a recruitment bias by academic employers. We also find evidence of publication bias, suggesting that recruiters may use statistical significance to gauge candidates' potential for future publications, thus influencing recruitment decisions. Overall, our findings provide insights into the dynamics of the academic job market and highlight incentives that would potentially reward academics for questionable research practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Brodeur, Abel & Kattan, Lamis & Musumeci, Marco, 2024. "Job Market Stars," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1514, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1514
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brooke Helppie McFall & Eric D. Parolin & Basit Zafar, 2024. "Career Expectations and Outcomes: Evidence (on Gender Gaps) from the Economics Job Market," NBER Working Papers 32446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gerber, Alan & Malhotra, Neil, 2008. "Do Statistical Reporting Standards Affect What Is Published? Publication Bias in Two Leading Political Science Journals," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 3(3), pages 313-326, October.
    3. Tomáš Havránek, 2015. "Measuring Intertemporal Substitution: The Importance Of Method Choices And Selective Reporting," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(6), pages 1180-1204, December.
    4. Paul Oyer, 2006. "Initial Labor Market Conditions and Long-Term Outcomes for Economists," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 143-160, Summer.
    5. Nicole Fortin & Thomas Lemieux & Marit Rehavi, 2021. "Gender Differences in Fields of Specialization and Placement Outcomes among PhDs in Economics," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 74-79, May.
    6. Andrés García-Suaza & Jesús Otero & Rainer Winkelmann, 2020. "Predicting early career productivity of PhD economists: Does advisor-match matter?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 429-449, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Academic job market; p-Hacking: Publication bias; Research credibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C40 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - General
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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