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on Sociology of Economics |
| By: | Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Jonung, Lars (Department of Economics, Lund University); Lundahl, Mats (Development Economics, Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We provide a critical analysis of the adoption of the US ‘top-five model’ by European economics academia. This model prioritizes publications in five elite journals, heavily influencing the career trajectories of doctoral students and researchers. It highlights the inefficiencies and social costs of this system, including the overemphasis on narrowly focused research topics and methodologies that align with US editorial preferences. This undermines innovation, interdisciplinary exploration, and economic research on issues of high social relevance in the home countries. The dominance of US institutions in setting these standards, disadvantages European scholars. We propose reforms for more diverse evaluation criteria that account for local relevance and broader scholarly contributions, suggesting that such changes would better align with European academic and societal needs. These adjustments aim to create a more balanced and impactful academic landscape while fostering a wider range of meaningful research outputs. |
| Keywords: | Criteria for hiring and promotion; European economics; Pluralism; Research productivity |
| JEL: | A11 A14 I23 J44 J62 |
| Date: | 2025–01–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1519 |
| By: | Lekang Ren; Danyang Xie |
| Abstract: | In tenure decisions, the treatment of co-authored papers often raises questions about a candidate's research independence. This study examines the effects of solo versus collaborative authorship in high-profile Economics journals on long-term academic success. Our findings confirms the traditional belief that solo-authored publications significantly enhance long-term research output and citation impact compared to collaborative efforts. However, relative to solo-authored papers, international collaborations have a less negative impact on long-term success than national and institutional collaborations. Temporal trends highlight the increasing importance of diverse and international collaborations. These insights provide actionable guidance for tenure committees on evaluating co-authored work and for researchers on optimizing their publication strategies. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2501.05653 |
| By: | Prashant Garg; Thiemo Fetzer |
| Abstract: | We analyze over 44, 000 NBER and CEPR working papers from 1980 to 2023 using a custom language model to construct knowledge graphs that map economic concepts and their relationships. We distinguish between general claims and those documented via causal inference methods (e.g., DiD, IV, RDD, RCTs). We document a substantial rise in the share of causal claims-from roughly 4% in 1990 to nearly 28% in 2020-reflecting the growing influence of the "credibility revolution." We find that causal narrative complexity (e.g., the depth of causal chains) strongly predicts both publication in top-5 journals and higher citation counts, whereas non-causal complexity tends to be uncorrelated or negatively associated with these outcomes. Novelty is also pivotal for top-5 publication, but only when grounded in credible causal methods: introducing genuinely new causal edges or paths markedly increases both the likelihood of acceptance at leading outlets and long-run citations, while non-causal novelty exhibits weak or even negative effects. Papers engaging with central, widely recognized concepts tend to attract more citations, highlighting a divergence between factors driving publication success and long-term academic impact. Finally, bridging underexplored concept pairs is rewarded primarily when grounded in causal methods, yet such gap filling exhibits no consistent link with future citations. Overall, our findings suggest that methodological rigor and causal innovation are key drivers of academic recognition, but sustained impact may require balancing novel contributions with conceptual integration into established economic discourse. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2501.06873 |
| By: | Choi, Dahyun |
| Abstract: | Scientific research has been considered a primary source of information for improving policy outcomes, but its use is inevitably intertwined with political considerations. Using a comprehensive dataset of peer-reviewed journal articles evaluated for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, this paper examines the trade-off between partisan bias and evidence quality in internal science evaluation by government agencies. I find that the integration of science into policymaking is guided by a pursuit of expertise but biased in favor of the presidential administration. The evaluation of low-quality studies is more susceptible to partisan bias, while high-quality studies remain relatively unaffected. This work not only provides an empirical examination of long-standing questions about how information is used by politically divergent factions but also illuminates the pathways through which academic research connects the contours of evidence-based policymaking. |
| Date: | 2025–01–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:ujyec |
| By: | Gabriel Okasa; Alberto de Le\'on; Michaela Strinzel; Anne Jorstad; Katrin Milzow; Matthias Egger; Stefan M\"uller |
| Abstract: | Peer review in grant evaluation informs funding decisions, but the contents of peer review reports are rarely analyzed. In this work, we develop a thoroughly tested pipeline to analyze the texts of grant peer review reports using methods from applied Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning. We start by developing twelve categories reflecting content of grant peer review reports that are of interest to research funders. This is followed by multiple human annotators' iterative annotation of these categories in a novel text corpus of grant peer review reports submitted to the Swiss National Science Foundation. After validating the human annotation, we use the annotated texts to fine-tune pre-trained transformer models to classify these categories at scale, while conducting several robustness and validation checks. Our results show that many categories can be reliably identified by human annotators and machine learning approaches. However, the choice of text classification approach considerably influences the classification performance. We also find a high correspondence between out-of-sample classification performance and human annotators' perceived difficulty in identifying categories. Our results and publicly available fine-tuned transformer models will allow researchers and research funders and anybody interested in peer review to examine and report on the contents of these reports in a structured manner. Ultimately, we hope our approach can contribute to ensuring the quality and trustworthiness of grant peer review. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.16662 |
| By: | Michael Thaler; Mattie Toma; Victor Yaneng Wang |
| Abstract: | When communicating numeric estimates with policymakers, journalists, or the general public, experts must choose between using numbers or natural language. We run two experiments to study whether experts strategically use language to communicate numeric estimates in order to persuade receivers. In Study 1, senders communicate probabilities of abstract events to receivers on Prolific, and in Study 2 academic researchers communicate the effect sizes in research papers to government policymakers. When experts face incentives to directionally persuade instead of incentives to accurately inform receivers, they are 25-29 percentage points more likely to communicate using language rather than numbers. Experts with incentives to persuade are more likely to slant language messages than numeric messages in the direction of their incentives, and this effect is driven by those who prefer to use language. Our findings suggest that experts are strategically leveraging the imprecision of language to excuse themselves for slanting more. Receivers are persuaded by experts with directional incentives, particularly when language is used. |
| JEL: | C91 D83 D91 D73 I23 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11600 |
| By: | Md. Shahbub Alam (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Accounting and Information Systems, Islamic University, Bangladesh Author-2-Name: Md. Mazedul Haque Author-2-Workplace-Name: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Marketing, Islamic University, Bangladesh. Author-3-Name: Md. Mahedi Hasan Author-3-Workplace-Name: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Law and Land Management, Islamic University, Bangladesh. Author-4-Name: Author-4-Workplace-Name: Author-5-Name: Author-5-Workplace-Name: Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:) |
| Abstract: | " Objective - The study's purpose is to examine the impact of financial status on the academic performance of public university students in Bangladesh. Methodology/Technique - The researchers used a quantitative approach because the empirical evaluations rely on numerical measurement and analysis. Self-administered survey questionnaires were used to acquire the primary data. This study consisted of 100 randomly chosen respondents from different departments at Islamic University in Bangladesh. The SPSS software was utilized to code and compile all of the information that was obtained from the participants. Finding - The study shows a significant positive correlation between the academic performance of university students and their financial difficulties and issues. Financial satisfaction, affluent financial status, and students' academic performance are less positively correlated. Novelty - The study advised the students that they have to cope with any financial difficulty. The parents should play a good role in their family by paying attention to their child's financial condition. The government should make a conducive policy relating to academics as well as the overall environment. The university should make some positive policies that allow students who come from underprivileged families to pay tuition fees and minimize other academic fees, which can eliminate financial anxiety and bring attention to academic performance. Type of Paper - Empirical" |
| Keywords: | academic performance, financial problems, financial satisfaction, Bangladesh. |
| JEL: | A20 G0 G59 |
| Date: | 2024–12–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr656 |