Trends in Economic Research: An International Perspective

23 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2010

See all articles by Ana Rute Cardoso

Ana Rute Cardoso

Instituto de Analisis Economico (IAE-CSIC); Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Paulo Guimaraes

University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Klaus F. Zimmermann

Global Labor Organization (GLO); UNU-MERIT; Maastricht University, Department of Economics; Free University Berlin; University of Bonn; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Journal of Population Economics

Abstract

Given the recent efforts in several countries to reorganize the research institutional setting to improve research productivity, our analysis addresses the following questions: To which extent has the recent awareness over international quality standards in economics around the world been reflected in research performance? How have individual countries fared? Do research quantity and quality indicators tell us the same story? We concentrate on trends taking place since the beginning of the 1990s and rely on a very comprehensive database of scientific journals, to provide a cross-country comparison of the evolution of research in economics. Our findings indicate that Europe is catching up with the US but, in terms of influential research, the US maintains a dominant position. The main continental European countries, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, experienced some of the largest growth rates in economic scientific output. Other European countries, namely the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, have shown remarkable progress in per capita output. Collaborative research seems to be a key factor explaining the relative success of some European countries, in particular when it comes to publishing in top journals, attained predominantly through international collaborations.

Keywords: research performance, publications, rankings, Europe, North-America, US

JEL Classification: A10, I20

Suggested Citation

Cardoso, Ana Rute and Guimaraes, Paulo and Zimmermann, Klaus F., Trends in Economic Research: An International Perspective. IZA Discussion Paper No. 4785, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1566334 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1566334

Ana Rute Cardoso (Contact Author)

Instituto de Analisis Economico (IAE-CSIC) ( email )

Campus UAB
Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193
Spain
3436917157 (Phone)

Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) ( email )

Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Barcelona, Barcelona 08005
Spain

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany
492283894508 (Phone)
492273894510 (Fax)

Paulo Guimaraes

University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business ( email )

1705 College St
Francis M. Hipp Building
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Klaus F. Zimmermann

Global Labor Organization (GLO) ( email )

Bonn
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://https://glabor.org/

UNU-MERIT ( email )

Keizer Karelplein 19
Maastricht, 6211TC
Netherlands

Maastricht University, Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, Limburg 6200MD
Netherlands

University of Bonn

Postfach 2220
Bonn, D-53012
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Journal of Population Economics

Tiergartenstr. 17
D-69121 Heidelberg
Germany

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