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on Sociology of Economics |
| By: | Richard S. J. Tol |
| Abstract: | It is unclear whether the hierarchy in the economics profession is the result of the agglomeration of excellence or of nepotism. I construct the professor-student network for laureates of and candidates for the Nobel Prize in Economics. I study the effect of proximity to previous Nobelists on winning the Nobel Prize. Conditional on being Nobel-worthy, students and grandstudents of Nobel laureates are not significantly more or less likely to win. Professors of Nobel Prize winners, however, are significantly more likely to win. |
| Keywords: | network formation, research training, Nobel prize |
| JEL: | A14 D85 Z13 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9860&r= |
| By: | Brodeur, Abel (University of Ottawa); Cook, Nikolai (Wilfrid Laurier University); Heyes, Anthony (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | Amazon Mechanical Turk is a very widely-used tool in business and economics research, but how trustworthy are results from well-published studies that use it? Analyzing the universe of hypotheses tested on the platform and published in leading journals between 2010 and 2020 we find evidence of widespread p-hacking, publication bias and over-reliance on results from plausibly under-powered studies. Even ignoring questions arising from the characteristics and behaviors of study recruits, the conduct of the research community itself erode substantially the credibility of these studies' conclusions. The extent of the problems vary across the business, economics, management and marketing research fields (with marketing especially afflicted). The problems are not getting better over time and are much more prevalent than in a comparison set of non-online experiments. We explore correlates of increased credibility. |
| Keywords: | online crowd-sourcing platforms, Amazon Mechanical Turk, p-hacking, publication bias, statistical power, research credibility |
| JEL: | B41 C13 C40 C90 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15478&r= |
| By: | Laura C. Blanco (Universidad de Costa Rica) |
| Abstract: | Gender wage differentials for the tenured academic personnel at Universidad de Costa Rica are estimated using administrative datasets. Men’s average gross hourly wages are 7.8% higher than that of women, which is lower than the gender wage differential observed in the Costa Rican labor market for graduates. The gender wage differential for academics is completely explained, mainly by differences associated with human capital accumulation and research. Women have a lower probability than men of having a Ph.D. and of having studied at a top university. Since ascending the academic ladder is dependent on research, these characteristics are associated with women reporting less publications at the same time that their work is less valued by the institution. |
| Keywords: | gender wage differential, academia, human capital, publications, academic rank. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fcr:wpaper:202204&r= |
| By: | Brodeur, Abel (University of Ottawa); Cook, Nikolai (Wilfrid Laurier University); Hartley, Jonathan S. (Stanford University); Heyes, Anthony (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are increasingly prominent in economics, with pre-registration and pre-analysis plans (PAPs) promoted as important in ensuring the credibility of findings. We investigate whether these tools reduce the extent of p-hacking and publication bias by collecting and studying the universe of test statistics, 15,992 in total, from RCTs published in 15 leading economics journals from 2018 through 2021. In our primary analysis, we find no meaningful difference in the distribution of test statistics from pre-registered studies, compared to their non-pre-registered counterparts. However, pre-registerd studies that have a complete PAP are significantly less p-hacked. This results point to the importance of PAPs, rather than pre-registration in itself, in ensuring credibility. |
| Keywords: | pre-analysis plan, pre-registration, p-hacking, publication bias, research credibility |
| JEL: | B41 C13 C40 C93 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15476&r= |
| By: | Heise, Arne |
| Abstract: | After the global financial crisis, hopes were high that there would be a pluralisation of the economics discipline and a boost for heterodox economics that challenged dominant economic models. However, mainstream economics once again proved its enormous resilience and the future of alternatives to this mainstream is anything but certain. Geoffrey Hodgson's new book on this issue has sparked fresh discussions about the stunted development of heterodox economics and proposals for possible ways forward. This article will argue that the crucial factor for the future of heterodox economics is not converging on a single unified paradigm or raising the quality of research, but rather gaining access to different kinds of capital, first and foremost professorial positions at universities. Such access is severely restricted under present conditions as a result of epistemological and ontological discrimination. Heterodox economics can only flourish if the epistemic community of economists embraces paradigmatic pluralism as part of their academic culture, or if regulations are put in place to secure access to such capital and so to academic freedom. |
| Keywords: | heterodox economics,pluralism,orthodox economics |
| JEL: | B50 B51 B52 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cessdp:94&r= |