Specialization, Field Distance, and Quality in Economists' Collaborations

Journal of Informetrics, Forthcoming

46 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2018 Last revised: 25 Apr 2022

See all articles by Ali Sina Önder

Ali Sina Önder

University of Portsmouth

Sascha Schweitzer

Reutlingen University; University of Bayreuth

Hakan Yilmazkuday

Florida International University (FIU) - Department of Economics

Date Written: October 18, 2021

Abstract

We analyze economics PhDs' collaborations in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2014 and investigate such collaborations' quality in relation to each co-author's research quality, field and specialization. We find that a greater overlap between co-authors' previous research fields is significantly related to a greater publication success of co-authors' joint work and this is robust to alternative specifications. Co-authors that engage in a distant collaboration are significantly more likely to have a large research overlap, but this significance is lost when co-authors' social networks are accounted for. High quality collaboration is more likely to emerge as a result of an interaction between specialists and generalists with overlapping fields of expertise. Regarding interactions across subfields of economics (interdisciplinarity), it is more likely conducted by co-authors who already have interdisciplinary portfolios, than by co-authors who are specialized or starred in different subfields.

Keywords: Collaboration; Distance; Team Formation; Research Productivity; Stratification; Specialization

JEL Classification: A11; A14; I23

Suggested Citation

Önder, Ali Sina and Schweitzer, Sascha and Yilmazkuday, Hakan, Specialization, Field Distance, and Quality in Economists' Collaborations (October 18, 2021). Journal of Informetrics, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3125205 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3125205

Ali Sina Önder (Contact Author)

University of Portsmouth ( email )

Portsmouth, PO1 3DE
United Kingdom

Sascha Schweitzer

Reutlingen University ( email )

Alteburgstr. 150
Reutlingen, 72762
Germany

University of Bayreuth ( email )

Universitatsstr 30
Bayreuth, D-95447
Germany

Hakan Yilmazkuday

Florida International University (FIU) - Department of Economics ( email )

11200 SW 8th Street
Miami, FL 33199
United States

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.fiu.edu/~hyilmazk/

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