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Does Online Availability Increase Citations? Theory and Evidence from a Panel of Economics and Business Journals*

* This paper has been replicated

Author

Listed:
  • Mark J. McCabe

    (Boston University, University of Michigan, and Visiting Scholar at OFCE and SKEMA Business School)

  • Christopher M. Snyder

    (Dartmouth College and National Bureau of Economic Research)

Abstract

Does online availability boost citations? Using a panel of citations to economics and business journals, we show that the enormous effects found in previous studies were an artifact of their failure to control for article quality, disappearing once fixed effects are added as controls. The absence of aggregate effects masks heterogeneity across platforms: JSTOR has a uniquely large effect, boosting citations around 10%. We examine other sources of heterogeneity, including whether JSTOR disproportionately increases cites from developing countries or to “long-tail” articles. Our theoretical analysis informs the econometric specification and allows citation increases to be translated into welfare terms. © 2015 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Suggested Citation

  • Mark J. McCabe & Christopher M. Snyder, 2015. "Does Online Availability Increase Citations? Theory and Evidence from a Panel of Economics and Business Journals," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(1), pages 144-165, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:97:y:2015:i:1:p:144-165
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    Replication

    This item has been replicated by:
  • Wagner, Joachim, 2017. "Does online availability increase citations? A replication study of McCabe and Snyder (Review of Economics and Statistics, 2015)," International Journal for Re-Views in Empirical Economics (IREE), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 1(2017-2), pages 1-1.

    • More about this item

    Keywords

    citations; online availability; economics journals; business journals; JSTOR; heterogeneity; welfare terms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A29 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Other
    • M00 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - General - - - General

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Does Online Availability Increase Citations? Theory and Evidence from a Panel of Economics and Business Journals (REStat 2015) in ReplicationWiki

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