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Do large departments make academics more productive? Sorting and agglomeration economies in research

Author

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  • Clément Bosquet

    (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA)

  • Pierre-Philippe Combes
Abstract
We study how departments' characteristics impact academics' quantity and quality of publications in economics. Individual time-varying characteristics and individual fixed-effects are controlled for. Departments' characteristics have an explanatory power at least equal to a fourth of that of individual characteristics and possibly as high as theirs. An academic's quantity and quality of publications in a field increase with the presence of other academics specialised in that field and with the share of the field's output in the department. By contrast, department's size, proximity to other large departments, homogeneity in terms of publication performance, presence of colleagues with connections abroad, and composition in terms of positions and age matter at least for some publication measures but only when individual fixed effects are not controlled for. This suggests a role for individual positive sorting where these characteristics only attract more able academics. A residual negative sorting between individuals' and departments' unobserved characteristics is simultaneously exhibited.

Suggested Citation

  • Clément Bosquet & Pierre-Philippe Combes, 2015. "Do large departments make academics more productive? Sorting and agglomeration economies in research," THEMA Working Papers 2015-16, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    • Handle: RePEc:ema:worpap:2015-16
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research productivity; Local externalities; Skills sorting; Peer effects; Co-author networks; Economics of science.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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