nep-sog New Economics Papers
on Sociology of Economics
Issue of 2006‒04‒22
five papers chosen by
Jonas Holmstrom
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration
  1. An Examination of the Reliability of Prestigious Scholarly Journals: Evidence and Implications for Decision-makers By Andrew J. Oswald
  2. The Macro-Foundations of Microeconomics: Initial Labor Market Conditions and Long-Term Outcomes for Economists By Paul Oyer
  3. The Role of University Characteristics in Determining Post-Graduation Outcomes: Panel Evidence from Three Recent Canadian Cohorts By Julian Betts; Christopher Ferrall; Ross Finnie
  4. Tuition fees and admission standards: how do public and private universities really compete for students? By Tania Oliveira
  5. The Knowledge Filter and Economic Growth: The Role of Scientist Entrepreneurship By David B. Audretsch; Taylor Aldridge; Alexander Oettl
  1. By: Andrew J. Oswald (University of Warwick and IZA Bonn)
    Abstract: In universities all over the world, hiring and promotion committees regularly hear the argument: "this is important work because it is about to appear in prestigious journal X". Moreover, those who allocate levels of research funding, such as in the multi-billion pound Research Assessment Exercise in UK universities, often come under pressure to assess research quality in a mechanical way by using journal prestige ratings. The results in this paper suggest that such tendencies are dangerous. It uses total citations over a quarter of a century as the criterion. The paper finds that it is far better to publish the best article in an issue of a medium-quality journal like the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics than to publish the worst article (or often the worst 4 articles) in an issue of a top journal like the American Economic Review. Implications are discussed.
    Keywords: citations, research productivity, economics journals, Research Assessment Exercise
    JEL: A11 O3
    Date: 2006–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2070&r=sog
  2. By: Paul Oyer
    Abstract: Each year, graduate students entering the academic job market worry that they will suffer due to uncontrollable macroeconomic risk. Given the importance of general human capital and the relative ease of publicly observing productivity in academia, one might expect unlucky graduating cohorts' long-term labor market outcomes to resemble those who graduate in favorable climates. In this paper, I analyze the relationship between macroeconomic conditions at graduation, initial job placement, and long-term outcomes for PhD economists from seven programs. Using macro conditions as an instrument for initial placement, I show a causal effect of quality and type of initial job on long-term job characteristics. I also show that better initial placement increases research productivity, which helps to limit the set of economic models that can explain the effect of initial placement on long-term jobs.
    JEL: J24 J44 A11 M50
    Date: 2006–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12157&r=sog
  3. By: Julian Betts (UC-San Diego); Christopher Ferrall (Queen's University); Ross Finnie (Queen’s University and Statistics Canada)
    Abstract: This paper models earnings of male and female Bachelor’s graduates in Canada five years after graduation. Using a university fixed-effect approach, the research finds evidence of significant (fixed) variations in earnings among graduates from different universities. Within universities changes over time in various characteristics are correlated with changes in graduates’ earnings. Increases in undergraduate enrollment are associated with declines in subsequent earnings for graduates, suggesting crowding out. For men, but not women, increases in the professor/student ratio are associated with meaningful gains in students’ subsequent earnings. Models that do not condition on a student’s major show increased effects of changes in a university’s characteristics, with estimated effects rising up to almost two-fold. For women in particular, changes in several university characteristics are strongly associated with changes in women’s choice of major. Changes in university characteristics are not strongly related to the probability of employment five years after graduation.
    JEL: J0 J3 I2
    Date: 2006–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1055&r=sog
  4. By: Tania Oliveira
    Abstract: We study a market where two universities, a public and a private one, compete for students by setting admission standards. Students differ in ability and receive a wage premium for participating in higher education. This wage increases with the quality of the university attended. The private university maximizes profits, the public university maximizes welfare. We show that there is no "same-standard" equilibrium. In a specific example we show that multiple equilibria can exist. In one equilibrium the private university sets a higher admission standard, and in the other equilibrium the public university sets a higher admission standard.
    Keywords: Competition between private and public universities; educational standards
    JEL: H42 H52 I22
    Date: 2006–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:06/6&r=sog
  5. By: David B. Audretsch; Taylor Aldridge; Alexander Oettl
    Date: 2006–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:egpdis:2006-11&r=sog
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