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Ranking of Institutions in Economic Research: a Threshold Citation Approach

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Abstract

Using a threshold citation approach, we rank institutions in economic research based on the influence of research works produced by their staff or faculty members. The top five economics departments are the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Princeton University, MIT, and Northwestern University with research works by scholars at the University of Chicago having the most influence on economic research.

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Notes

  1. 1. The first method is based on Kalaitzidakis et al. [1999] which uses page counts weighted for quality by adjusted Laband and Piette [1994] Index. The second method is the adjusted Laband and Piette [1994] method, which uses a long-term (5 years) impact factor. The third method uses the SSCI impact factors from Journal Citation Reports, and the last method follows the page-size normalization in Hirsch et al. [1984].

  2. 2. See Cameron [2005] for a detail discussion.

  3. 3. The web access to SSCI starts in 2000 and at the revision of this study, the most recent data is 2005. As in Hirsch et al. [1984], supplements in Journal of Political Economy are included but Papers and Proceedings in American Economic Review are excluded.

  4. 4. Research works include journal articles, book chapters, magazines and newspapers, books, monographs, or working papers, among others.

  5. 5. Research works with self and negative citations may still be included. However, the possibility of self-cited and negatively cited research works to exceed the threshold of 12 citations in 10 leading economic journals over a 6-year period is much less.

  6. 6. The institutional affiliation of the author is the one listed on the published research work. Therefore, if an author moves to a new institution after the publication of the research work, the former institution is credited for the work.

  7. 7. The complete table is available upon request.

  8. 8. Because of ties, there are 27 articles in the list.

  9. 9. In Coupé [2003], London School of Economics has a ranking of 15th using the publication-based approach and a ranking of 16th using the citation-based approach while Hebrew University has a ranking of 45th using the publication-based approach and a ranking of 62nd using the citation-based approach and the University of Oxford has a ranking of 26th using the publication-based approach and a ranking of 21st using the citation-based approach.

  10. 10. We thank one of the reviewers for this suggestion.

  11. 11. There are no research works with more than four coauthors.

  12. 12. The detail results are available upon request.

  13. 13. We thank another reviewer for this suggestion.

  14. 14. The detail results are available upon request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Finance, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, 42101, KY, USA

    Kam C Chan

  2. Department of Finance and Economics, Box 9580, Mississippi State University, 39762-9580, Mississippi State, MS, USA

    Kartono Liano

Authors
  1. Kam C Chan
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  2. Kartono Liano
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Appendix A

Appendix A

See Table A1.

Table a1 The authorship patterns of the frequently cited research works with 12 or more citations by articles in American Economic Review, Econometrica, Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Public Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, and Review of Economics and Statistics (2000–2005)
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Chan, K., Liano, K. Ranking of Institutions in Economic Research: a Threshold Citation Approach. Eastern Econ J 34, 347–363 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eej.9050035

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