The rational economist in research: A model

Martin Paldam

Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University

Abstract: Econ is an economist who behaves as predicted by economic theory. His research for a paper reporting the ‘best’ estimate of an important parameter is modeled. The size of his search is determined from the costs and benefits of running regressions. The size determines the relevant supply side as the production possibility frontier. The demand side is the indifference curves generated where Econ’s preferences meet the market in the form of sponsors, referees and editors. The optimal selection appears as usual. It is shown that it is better than the true one, and that the bias has substantial inertia.

Keywords: Rational economist; publication bias (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B4 D24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18
Date: 2015-09-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe and nep-pke
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aah:aarhec:2015-16

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