nep-sog New Economics Papers
on Sociology of Economics
Issue of 2021‒12‒06
five papers chosen by
Jonas Holmström
Axventure AB

  1. The Long-Term Effect of Research Grants on the Scientific Output of University Professors By Katrin Hussinger; João N. Carvalho
  2. Gender Differences in Economics PhD Field Specializations with Correlated Choices By Sierminska, Eva; Oaxaca, Ronald L.
  3. Science after Communism: Peers and Productivity in East German Science By Ho Fai Chan; Vincent Lariviére; Naomi Moy; Ali Sina Önder; Donata Schilling; Benno Torgler
  4. Non-Standard Errors By Menkveld, A.; Dreber, A.; Holzmeister, F.; Huber, J.; Johannesson, M.; Kirchler, M.; Neusüss, S.; Razen, M.; Neusüss, S.; Neusüss, S.
  5. Adams and Eves: The Gender Gap in Economics Majors By Graziella Bertocchi; Luca Bonacini; Marina Murat

  1. By: Katrin Hussinger (Department of Economics and Management, Université du Luxembourg); João N. Carvalho (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa)
    Abstract: A major source of research funding for university professors are competitive research grants. With focus on Luxembourg, we present results from a difference-in-difference analysis which show that research grants by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), the central research funding agency in Luxembourg, increase the scientific output of university professors by 31% which corresponds to one additional publication. We further show that the scientific output drops again around five years after the grant receipt. We, however, find that those university professors who realize a quality increase of their journal publications in the years following the grant receipt benefit from a long-lasting publication quality effect. benefit from a long-lasting publication quality effect.
    Keywords: competitive research grants, university professors, scientific output, difference-in-difference estimation
    JEL: I23 O38
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:21-14&r=
  2. By: Sierminska, Eva (LISER (CEPS/INSTEAD)); Oaxaca, Ronald L. (University of Arizona)
    Abstract: We model the process of field specialization choice among beginning economists within a multivariate logit framework that accommodates single and dual primary field specializations and incorporates correlations among field specialization choices. Conditioning on personal, economic, and institutional variables reveals that women graduate students are less likely to specialize in Labor/Health, Macro/Finance, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, and Development/Growth/International and are more likely to specialize in Agricultural/Resource/Environmental Economics. Field-specific gender faculty ratios and expected relative salaries as well as economics department rankings are significant factors for gender doctoral specialization dissimilarity. Preferences and characteristics contribute about equally to field specialization dissimilarity.
    Keywords: gender, economics, specialization, salaries
    JEL: J01 J16 J31
    Date: 2021–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14778&r=
  3. By: Ho Fai Chan (Queensland University of Technology); Vincent Lariviére (University of Montreal); Naomi Moy (University of Bologna); Ali Sina Önder (University of Portsmouth); Donata Schilling (London School of Economics); Benno Torgler (Queensland University of Technology)
    Abstract: We analyze the role of complementarities in collaboration and academic productivity using a unique dataset on East German scientists’ publications in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) after the German re-unification in 1990. We focus on East German scientists’ connections to their peers, their scientific productivity and impact as measured by the number of publications, citation accumulation, and the quality of journals where they publish. East German scientists show a significant convergence to their West German peers in all productivity accounts. We use the similarity of research portfolio to West German research in 1980s as identification and find that the effect of losing a collaborator on the productivity and collaborations of East German scientists differs with respect to their complementarities. Moreover, we find East Germans who collaborated with Soviet scientists on non-Western research fields during the 1980s are significantly more likely to re-wire their collaboration net- works towards Western Europe and the US in 1990s and 2000s. They are also more likely to switch their field of research and collaborate with West Germans who moved to an East German university or research institute after the re-unification.
    Keywords: Peer-Effects; Productivity; Institutions; Migration; East Germany
    JEL: J61 O33
    Date: 2021–11–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pbs:ecofin:2021-09&r=
  4. By: Menkveld, A.; Dreber, A.; Holzmeister, F.; Huber, J.; Johannesson, M.; Kirchler, M.; Neusüss, S.; Razen, M.; Neusüss, S.; Neusüss, S.
    Abstract: In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in sample estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: non-standard errors. To study them, we let 164 teams test six hypotheses on the same sample. We find that non-standard errors are sizeable, on par with standard errors. Their size (i) co-varies only weakly with team merits, reproducibility, or peer rating, (ii) declines significantly after peer-feedback, and (iii) is underestimated by participants. Online appendix available at https://bit.ly/3DIQKrB . Please note a full list of authors is available in the working paper.
    Keywords: Market Efficiency, P-hacking, Publication bias
    JEL: A14 C10 C12 C59 C90 G14 G40
    Date: 2021–11–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2182&r=
  5. By: Graziella Bertocchi; Luca Bonacini; Marina Murat
    Abstract: We investigate the gender gap in Economics among bachelor's and master's grad- uates in Italy between 2010 and 2019. First we establish that being female exerts a negative impact on the choice to major in Economics: at the bachelor level, only 73 women graduate in Economics for every 100 men, with the mathematical con- tent of high school curricula as the key driver of the effect and a persistence of the gap at the master level. Second, within a full menu of major choices, Economics displays the largest gap, followed by STEM and then Business Economics. Third, decomposition analyses expose a unique role for the math background in driving the Economics gender gap relative to other fields. Fourth, a triple difference analysis of a high school reform shows that an increase in the math content of traditionally low math curricula caused an increase in the Economics gender gap among treated students.
    Keywords: Education Gender Gap, Economics, Higher Education, Business Economics, Major Choice, Major Switching, Mathematics, Stereotypes
    JEL: A22 I23 J16
    Date: 2021–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:151&r=

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