Research standards for the Italian young academics: what has changed over the last thirty years?

Birolo, Adriano and Rosselli, Annalisa (2009): Research standards for the Italian young academics: what has changed over the last thirty years?

Abstract

In this paper the authors present the findings of their research on a vast database containing the relevant information on the scientific characteristics of the three cohorts of assistant professors recruited in Italy in the early 1980s, the 1990s and the first few years of the new millennium. Their first objective is to trace out the scientific profile of the assistant professor in the early 1980s and the changes that came about in the following twenty-five years due to general changes in the profession and in the specific conditions of the Italian academic market. The second aim is to see what turn in direction the scientific standard has taken for access to a career as a young professor of economics, the number and typology of publications, the fields of research.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: evolution of the scientific standard, research output, “representative” economist, academic market for economists, evaluation
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B2 - History of Economic Thought since 1925 > B23 - Econometrics ; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A11 - Role of Economics ; Role of Economists ; Market for Economists; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A14 - Sociology of Economics; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B4 - Economic Methodology > B41 - Economic Methodology

References

Artoni, R. (2004), "La valutazione della ricerca", Economia Politica, vol. 21, No 3.

Artoni, R. (2007), “Valutazione della ricerca e pluralismo in economia politica”, Rivista italiana degli economisti, Vol. 12, No 2.

Backhouse R., Middleton R., K. Tribe (1997) “ ‘Economics is what economists do’, but what do the numbers tell us?”, Annual History of Economic Thought Conference, University of Bristol, 3–5 September.

Bardhan, P. (2003), “Journal Publication in Economics: A View from the Periphery”, Economic Journal, Vol. 113, No 488.

Bronfenbrenner, M. (1966) 'Trends, cycles and fads in economic writing', American Economic Review, Vol. 56, No 1/2.

Corsi M. (1999), “I concorsi per ricercatore nelle discipline economiche”, in Carabelli, A., Parisi, D., Rosselli, A. (a cura di), Che “genere” di economista, Bologna: il Mulino.

Fishe Raymon P.H. (1998), “What are the research standards for full professor of Finance?”, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No 3, June.

Gillies, D. (2006), “Why Research Assessment Exercises Are a Bad Thing”, Post-autistic economics review, No 37.

Gillies, D. (2008), How Should Research be Organised?, London, College Publications.

Hey, J. (1989), “Comment on Theodore Morgan, “Theory versus Empiricism in Academic Economics: Update and Comparison””, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, No 4.

Hodgson, G. M., Rothman, H. (1999), "The Editors and Authors of Economic Journals: A Case of Institutional Oligopoly?", Economic Journal, vol. 109, No. 453.

Holub, H. W. (1989), “Comments on Theodore Morgan, "Theory versus Empiricism in Academic Economics: Update and Comparison””Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, No 4.

Keynes, J. M. (1936), The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, London, MacMillan

Lee, F. S. (2007), “The Research Assessment Exercise, the state and the dominance of mainstream economics in British universities”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 31 No 2.

Lee, F. S. and Harley, S. (1997), " The Case of Economics," Radical Philosophy, No 85.

Lee, F. S. and Harley, S. (1998), "Peer Review, the Research Assessment Exercise and the Demise of Non-Mainstream Economics," Capital and Class, Vol. 66.

Morgan, T. (1988), “Theory versus Empiricism in Academic Economics: Update and Comparisons”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 4.

Oswald A. J. (2007), “An Examination of the Reliability of Prestigious Scholarly Journals: Evidence and Implications for Decision-Makers”, Economica, Vol. 74, No 1.

Sen, A. (2002), “The Science of Give and Take”, New Scientist, No 2340.

Stigler, G.J. (1965), “Statistical studies in the history of economic thought” in Stigler, G.J., Essays in the History of Economics, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

van Dalen, H. P. (2007), “Pluralism in Economics: A Public Good or a Public Bad?” in Groenewegen, J. (ed), Teaching Pluralism in Economics, Cheltenham, U.K., Elgar.