nep-sog New Economics Papers
on Sociology of Economics
Issue of 2007‒01‒23
six papers chosen by
Jonas Holmstrom
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration

  1. Ranking Journals Following a Matching Model Approach. An Application to Public Economics Journals By Francesc Pujol
  2. The "Read or Write" Dilemma in Academic Production: A European Perspective By Besancenot, Damien; Huynh, Kim; Vranceanu, Radu
  3. Publication Portfolio of the Czech Economists and Problems of Rankings By František Turnovec
  4. Colombia's Higher Education Quality Control System and Potential for Further Development By Maria Otilia Orozco
  5. Schooling inequality and the rise of research By Bas Straathof
  6. The Economics of Ideas and the Ideas of Economists By William R. Johnson

  1. By: Francesc Pujol (Universidad de Navarra)
    Abstract: Journal rankings based on citation indexes are widely used in the economics field for global top journals. We propose an alternative way to rank journals based on the publishing behavior of top ranked authors. We justify this approach by depicting the scientific publishing market as following a matching process. Compared to the citation approach, the methodology that we propose has comparative advantages in terms of time effort to produce national and subdiscipline rankings, and it makes it possible to compare them with global rankings. It also corrects the impact underestimation that the citation approach tends to produce in new and re-founded journals. We propose an empirical application to the case of public economics journals.
    JEL: A14 H00 C78
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:una:unccee:wp1206&r=sog
  2. By: Besancenot, Damien (LEM and University of Paris 2); Huynh, Kim (LEM and University of Paris 2); Vranceanu, Radu (ESSEC Business School)
    Abstract: This paper investigates the production of research in business and economics. A scholar's income is positively related to the quantity and quality of research. In turn, the quality of a paper depends on the scholar's human capital and the external production of research. The individual scholar is subject to a trade-off between writing more papers or reading in order to upgrade her skills. In the Nash symmetric equilibrium, the quantity and quality of published papers are jointly determined. Under reasonable assumptions about the research production process, in equilibrium researchers write too many papers of a too low quality, as compared to the cooperative outcome. Policy implications can be inferred from the model.
    Keywords: Incentives for Publication; Congestion Effect; Research Quality; Publications; Research; Research Management
    JEL: A11 D89 M21
    Date: 2006–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:essewp:dr-06021&r=sog
  3. By: František Turnovec (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
    Abstract: This paper presents "micro" results of empirical analysis of 1235 individual publication records of 1300 economists in the Czech Republic retrieved from international databases Web of Science and EconLit for the period 1994-2003. Publication portfolio described by research publication flows from particular institutions to particular journals is provided. Algorithms of weighted and notweighted rankings of institutions by research performance are proposed and applied on Czech data.
    Keywords: impact factor; lexicographic ordering; publication portfolio; ranking
    JEL: A11 P2
    Date: 2006–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2006_30&r=sog
  4. By: Maria Otilia Orozco
    Abstract: This paper attempts to examine the past and current developments of the higher education quality control system in Colombia. The extensive quality control reforms of recent years are discussed and conclusions are drawn as to their effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, comparisons are made between Colombia's situation and international examples of higher education systems in Chile, Brazil and the United States, countries also with high proportions of private enrollment and at varying stages of development. Drawing upon international observations and investigation of Colombia's system through research and in person interviews, recommendations are suggested to address major areas of weakness, such as: asymmetric information, an ineffective system of incentives, and the lack of a culture of evaluation among higher education institutions and government quality control programs and institutions. The objective of this study is to paint a clearer picture of the current higher education system and explore possibilities for even further reform in the future.
    Date: 2005–08–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:001022:002771&r=sog
  5. By: Bas Straathof
    Abstract: During the last twenty years the share of researchers in the workforce has been rising in OECD countries. In the same period, the distribution of schooling has become more equal. This paper proposes that the rise in the proportion of researchers is caused by the decline in schooling inequality. In particular, comparative static analysis of a semi-endogenous growth model demonstrates that a rising proportion of researchers can be a steady state phenomenon when schooling inequality is declining over time. This outcome can be accompanied by a rise in the wages of high-skilled labor compared to low-skilled labor.
    Keywords: Schooling inequality; Economic growth; Skill premium
    JEL: O40 I20 J24
    Date: 2006–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:74&r=sog
  6. By: William R. Johnson
    Abstract: On college campuses across the country and on millions of home computers, too, young adults download from each other digital files containing recorded music and films for their entertainment. The owners of that copyrighted material pursue the downloaders with legal action as well as the software services that facilitate it. Napster’s existence as a free file-sharing internet site was shut down in 2001, and the Supreme Court has recently ruled that a successor file-sharing service, Grokster, engaged in copyright infringement by providing an easy way for individuals to exchange files. The amount of filesharing activity is not trivial; Paul Romer (2002) estimates that Napster users were downloading at the rate of 1.5 billion downloads per month before Napster was shut down and that the consumer surplus generated by downloading roughly equaled the revenues of the recording industry.
    Keywords: Intellectual Property, property rights, creativity
    JEL: D8 O34 O38 Z11
    Date: 2005–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vir:virpap:368&r=sog

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