Systematic Bias in the Progress of Research

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rubin, Amir; Rubin, Eran
• 署名单位: Simon Fraser University; Reichman University; California State University System; California State University Fresno
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/715021
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 2666-2719
• 关键词: patent citations; FINANCE JOURNALS; ECONOMICS; COMPENSATION; perceptions; INNOVATION; DIRECTORS; ARTICLES; BEHAVIOR

摘要

We analyze the extent to which citing practices may be driven by strategic considerations. The discontinuation of the Journal of Business (JB) in 2006 for extraneous reasons serves as an exogenous shock for analyzing strategic citing behavior. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, we find that articles published in JB before 2006 experienced a relative reduction in citations of approximately 20% after 2006. Since the discontinuation of JB is unrelated to the scientific contributions of its articles, the results imply that the referencing of articles is systematically affected by strategic considerations, which hinders scientific progress.