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Human capital externalities, departmental co-authorship and research productivity

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Abstract

Lucas (1988) hypothesised that human capital externalities explain persistent productivity growth and become manifest via interactions between workplace colleagues. Consistent with the first part of this hypothesis, Fox and Milbourne (2006) concluded that an increase in the average level of human capital in Australian economics departments raised the research productivity of departmental members. This paper tests the robustness of this finding by using a direct, rather than a proxy, measure of human capital and confirms the existence of human capital externalities within Australian economics departments. But we go further by investigating the second part of Lucas’ hypothesis. Whilst there are numerous ways in which departmental colleagues may interact, we investigate whether the externality becomes manifest via co-authorship. We find no evidence that this type of interaction significantly enhances research productivity, especially for higher quality outputs.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Neri & Joan Rodgers, 2012. "Human capital externalities, departmental co-authorship and research productivity," Economics Working Papers wp12-05, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:uow:depec1:wp12-05
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    1. Sauer, Raymond D, 1988. "Estimates of the Returns to Quality and Coauthorship in Economic Academia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 855-866, August.
    2. Kalaitzidakis, P. & Mamuneas, T.P. & Stengos, T., 2003. "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions," Working Papers 2003-8, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    4. Towe, Jack B & Wright, Donald J, 1995. "Research Published by Australian Economics and Econometrics Departments: 1988-93," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 71(212), pages 8-17, March.
    5. Frank Neri & Joan R. Rodgers, 2006. "Ranking Australian Economics Departments by Research Productivity," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(s1), pages 74-84, September.
    6. Pantelis Kalaitzidakis & Theofanis P. Mamuneas & Thanasis Stengos, 2003. "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1346-1366, December.
    7. John Gibson, 2000. "Research productivity in New Zealand university economics departments: Comment and update," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 73-87.
    8. Kostas Axarloglou & Vasilis Theoharakis, 2003. "Diversity in Economics: An Analysis of Journal Quality Perceptions," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1402-1423, December.
    9. Sinha, Dipendra & Macri, Joseph, 2002. "Rankings of Australian Economics Departments, 1988-2000," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 78(241), pages 136-146, June.
    10. Michel Lubrano & Luc Bauwens & Alan Kirman & Camelia Protopopescu, 2003. "Ranking Economics Departments in Europe: A Statistical Approach," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1367-1401, December.
    11. Jerry G. Thursby, 2000. "What Do We Say about Ourselves and What Does It Mean? Yet Another Look at Economics Department Research," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 383-404, June.
    12. Richard Pomfret & Liang Choon Wang, 2003. "Evaluating The Research Output Of Australian Universities' Economics Departments," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 418-441, December.
    13. Kevin J. Fox & Ross Milbourne, 2006. "Is It Harder To Soar With Eagles When You Work With Turkeys?," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 362-371, December.
    14. Harminder Battu & Clive R. Belfield & Peter J. Sloane, 2003. "Human Capital Spillovers within the Workplace: Evidence for Great Britain," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(5), pages 575-594, December.
    15. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Laurent Linnemer, 2003. "Where are the Economists Who Publish? Publication Concentration and Rankings in Europe Based on Cumulative Publications," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1250-1308, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity; externalities; human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

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