| Abstract: |
Using data describing all “Top 5” economics journal publications from
1969-2018, we examine what determines which authors produce less as they age
and which retire earlier. Sub-field has no impact on the rate of production,
but interacts with it to alter retirement probabilities. A positive,
tentative, and contemporary writing style increases persistence in publishing.
Authors whose previous work was more heavily cited produce slightly more.
Those better-cited with more top-flight publications retire later than others.
Declining publication with age arises mostly from habit—there is a very
significant increasing positive autocorrelation of publication across the
decades of a career. |