How Does the Market Use Citation Data? The Hirsch Index in Economics

36 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2010

See all articles by Glenn Ellison

Glenn Ellison

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: September 30, 2010

Abstract

A large literature following Hirsch (2005) has proposed citation-based indexes that could be used to rank academics. This paper examines how well several such indexes match labor market outcomes using data on the citation records of young tenured economists at 25 U.S. departments. Variants of Hirsch’s index that emphasize smaller numbers of highly-cited papers perform better than Hirsch’s original index and have substantial power to explain which economists are tenured at which departments. Adjustment factors for differences across fields and years of experience are presented.

Keywords: Hirsch index, citation data, economics profession

JEL Classification: A14, I23, O30

Suggested Citation

Ellison, Glenn David, How Does the Market Use Citation Data? The Hirsch Index in Economics (September 30, 2010). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3188, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1687582 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1687582

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