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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2010‒08‒14
three papers chosen by Jonas Holmström Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Chia-Lin Chang (Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University); Michael McAleer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands, and Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Les Oxley (Department of Economics and Finance, University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | The paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined and analysed, including the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor score, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors), and two new RAM measure, the Self-citation Threshold Approval Rating (STAR) score and the Impact Factor Inflation (IFI) score. The ISI RAM data are analysed for the most highly cited journals in the ISI categories of Economics, Management, Business, and Business - Finance. The journals are chosen on the basis of 2YIF (including self citations by both author and journal). The application to these four ISI categories could be used as a template for other ISI categories in both the Social Sciences and the Sciences, and as a benchmark for newer journals in a range of ISI disciplines. In addition to evaluating high quality research in the most highly cited Economics journals, the paper also compares the most highly cited journals in Management, Business, and Business - Finance, alternative RAM, highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM criteria, finds that several ISI RAM capture similar performance characteristics for the most highly cited Economics, Management, Business and Business - Finance journals, determines that the Immediacy and PI-BETA scores are not highly correlated with the other ISI RAM, and hence conveys additional information regarding ISI RAM criteria. Harmonic mean rankings of the 12 RAM criteria for the most highly cited journals in the four categories are also presented. It was shown that emphasizing THE impact factor, specifically the 2-year impact factor, of a journal to the exclusion of other useful and illuminating RAM criteria, can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal performance and influence on the profession. |
| Keywords: | Research assessment measures, impact factors, Immediacy, Eigenfactor, Article Influence, h-index, C3PO, Zinfluence, PI-BETA, STAR, IFI. |
| JEL: | C43 C10 Z0 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:706&r=sog |
| By: | Chia-Lin Chang; Michael McAleer (University of Canterbury); Les Oxley (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the leading journals in Neuroscience using quantifiable Research Assessment Measures (RAM). Alternative RAM criteria are discussed for the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily include the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor score, Article Influence score, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors), and three new RAM, namely Self-citation Threshold Approval Rating (STAR), Impact Factor Inflation (IFI), and Cited Article Influence (CAI). The RAM criteria are analysed for 26 highly cited journals in the ISI category of Neurosciences. The paper highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM criteria, shows that several RAM capture similar performance characteristics of highly cited journals, and finds that the Eigenfactor score and PI-BETA are not highly correlated with the other RAM scores, and hence convey additional information regarding journal rankings. Harmonic mean rankings are also presented of the 13 RAM criteria for the 26 highly cited journals. It is shown that emphasizing the 2-year impact factor of a journal to the exclusion of other informative RAM criteria can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal performance and influence. |
| Keywords: | Impact factors; Immediacy; Eigenfactor; Article Influence; h-index, C3PO; Zinfluence; PI-BETA; STAR, IFI; Cited Article influence |
| Date: | 2010–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:10/47&r=sog |
| By: | Thomas J. Dohmen |
| Abstract: | High rewards or the threat of severe punishment do not only provide incentives to exert high levels of effort but also create pressure. Such pressure can cause paradoxical performance effects, namely performance decrements despite strong incentives and high motivation. By analyzing the performance of professional football players on a well-defined task, namely to score on a penalty kick, the paper provides empirical evidence for the existence of such detrimental incentive effects. Two pressure variables are considered in particular: (1) the importance of success and (2) the presence of spectators. There are plenty of situations in which pressure arises in the workplace. Knowing how individuals perform under pressure conditions is crucial for labor economists because it has implications for the design of the workplace and the design of incentive schemes. [IZA Discussion Paper No. 1905] |
| Keywords: | choking under pressure, paradoxical performance effects of incentives, social pressure |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2742&r=sog |