Citation Patterns in the Finance Literature

Abstract:     
Out of a total of 12,637 individuals who published at least one article in the leading finance journals over the past 25 years, the top 1% (10%) account for more than one third (three quarters) of the number of citations to articles published in these journals. In contrast, nearly one half of the authors have been cited only once. These results indicate that a few prominent researchers dominate citation in the top finance journals. We explain these empirical regularities using a stochastic model of citation.

Keywords: citations, concentration, stochastic process

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