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The Determinants of the Reputations of Economics Departments: Pages Published, Citations and the Andy Rooney Effect

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  • David J. Smyth

Abstract

This paper analyzes the determinants of the ratings and rankings of Economics departments generated in a recent reputational study by the National Research Council. A department's reputation increases with the number of article pages published and the citation rate for its faculty's publications. A page in a “top five†journal is worth more than a page published in other journals. There are diminishing returns to pages published and to citations. The National Research Council ratings for private institutions are biased upwards and those for southern schools are biased downwards. A revised set of rankings with these biases removed is constructed. The optimum publication strategy for a department depends on the distribution of pages published between “top five†and other journals. Economists judged departments more harshly than faculty in other disciplines.

Suggested Citation

  • David J. Smyth, 1999. "The Determinants of the Reputations of Economics Departments: Pages Published, Citations and the Andy Rooney Effect," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 43(2), pages 49-58, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:43:y:1999:i:2:p:49-58
    DOI: 10.1177/056943459904300205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael E. Conroy & Richard Dusansky, 1995. "The Productivity of Economics Departments in the U.S.: Publications in the Core Journals," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1966-1971, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael J. Hilmer & Christiana E. Hilmer, 2009. "Fishes, Ponds, And Productivity: Student‐Advisor Matching And Early Career Publishing Success For Economics Phds," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(2), pages 290-303, April.
    2. Derek Leslie, 2005. "Are Delays in Academic Publishing Necessary?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 407-413, March.
    3. Richard V. Adkisson, 2010. "Reptilian Economists of the World Unite: A Tolerance Manifesto," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 55(2), pages 14-23, November.
    4. Vicente Safón, 2019. "Inter-ranking reputational effects: an analysis of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) reputational relationship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 897-915, November.
    5. Vicente Safón, 2013. "What do global university rankings really measure? The search for the X factor and the X entity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(2), pages 223-244, November.

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