Professional standing and the reception of contributions to economics

This study assesses the relationship between selected professional characteristics of authors of articles published in four leading economics journals and the reception (citations) of these articles in subsequently published articles. Both early reception (citations received within 3 years) and total reception (citations received within 9 years) were examined. The three professional characteristics are professional age, rank of department of affiliation, and scientific repute. Articles written by economists with (1) the longest professional age, (2) an affiliation with one of the 19 most highly rated graduate departments, and (3) the greatest scientific repute received the most citations during both the early and total reception periods. The analysis is placed within the framework of the sociology of science.