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Do academics swing for the fences after tenure? Analysis of attributions data from economics research

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  • Franklin G. Mixon

    (Columbus State University)

Abstract

Recent research by Brogaard et al. (J Econ Perspect 32:179–194, 2018) explores whether or not the receipt of tenure gives academics the employment protection necessary to induce them to attempt more ground-breaking or “home run” research. They discover that the number of home run publications, defined as those that are among the top 10 percent most cited of all papers published in a given year, peaks in the year of tenure for economists, and falls thereafter, thus supporting the notion that a reduction in risk-taking on the part of academic researchers appears to have occurred in recent decades. This study explores a possible alternative explanation for the prior findings that involves the exertion of research production “effort” by way of the ex ante supply of critiques of a manuscript by informal commenters. This represents an author-supplied input or effort in the production process that is related to quality control, and that can be captured through the information provided in the acknowledgement footnote of a published study. The data examined in this study suggest that if academics make an adjustment on this margin of effort during the course of an academic career, it is to increase research effort in an attempt to produce truly ground-breaking, home run research.

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  • Franklin G. Mixon, 2018. "Do academics swing for the fences after tenure? Analysis of attributions data from economics research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2155-2160, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:116:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-018-2819-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2819-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Sharon M. Oster & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1998. "Aging And Productivity Among Economists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 154-156, February.
    3. Bruce Cater & Byron Lew & Marcus Pivato, 2017. "The Efficiency of Tenure Contracts in Academic Employment," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 19(2), pages 331-361, April.
    4. Jonathan Brogaard & Joseph Engelberg & Edward Van Wesep, 2018. "Do Economists Swing for the Fences after Tenure?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 179-194, Winter.
    5. Franklin G. Mixon Jr & W. Charles Sawyer, 2005. "Contribution, attribution and the assignment of intellectual property rights in economics," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 32(5), pages 382-386, October.
    6. David N. Laband & Robert D. Tollison & Gokhan Karahan, 2002. "Quality Control in Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 315-334, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. João Ricardo Faria & Franklin G. Mixon, 2020. "The Peter and Dilbert Principles applied to academe," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 115-132, June.
    2. Gao(高凯), Kai & Wang(王玲), Ling & Liu(刘婷婷), Tingting & Zhao(赵华擎), Huaqing, 2022. "Management executive power and corporate green innovation——Empirical evidence from China's state-owned manufacturing sector," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Franklin G. Mixon & Kamal P. Upadhyaya, 2024. "When forgiveness beats permission: Exploring the scholarly ethos of clinical faculty in economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(1), pages 75-91, January.
    4. Ho Fai Chan & Franklin G. Mixon & Jayanta Sarkar & Benno Torgler, 2022. "Recognition and longevity: an examination of award timing and lifespan in Nobel laureates," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3629-3659, June.

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