Academic in-group bias in economics

Lutmar, Carmela and Reingewertz, Yaniv (2020): Academic in-group bias in economics.

Abstract

This paper studies academic in-group bias in the top five economics journals. We examine citation counts for articles published in these journals during the years 2006–2015, and compare counts for articles written by in-group members versus out-group members, where in-group status is defined based on whether at least one author shares the journal’s institutional affiliation. Our results suggest that in-group bias exists in the QJE, but not in the JPE or REStud (the AER and Econometrica are the control group). We thus confirm the existence of academic in-group bias in some, but not all, top five economics journals.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Academic in-group bias, top five, economics journals, editorial favoritism
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A14 - Sociology of Economics; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I23 - Higher Education ; Research Institutions; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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