Six Dimensions of Concentration in Economics: Evidence from a Large-Scale Data Set

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Argument This paper argues that the economics discipline is highly concentrated, which may inhibit scientific innovation and change in the future. The argument is based on an empirical investigation of six dimensions of concentration in economics between 1956 and 2016 using a large-scale data set. The results show that North America accounts for nearly half of all articles and three quarters of all citations. Twenty institutions reap a share of 42 percent of citations, five journals a share of 28.5 percent, and 100 authors a share of 15.5 percent. A total of 2.8 percent of citations may be attributed to heterodox schools of thought. Also top articles are concentrated along these dimensions. Overall, concentration has strongly increased over the last six decades.

Original languageEnglish
JournalScience in Context
Volume32
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)381-410
Number of pages30
ISSN0269-8897
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.12.2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. We are grateful for financial support from the Forschungsinstitut für Gesellschaftliche Weiterentwicklung (Research Institute for Societal Development).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press.

    Research areas

  • bibliometrics, citations, concentration, economics, inequality, scientometrics
  • Economics