The Value of Insiders as Mentors: Evidence from the Effects of NSF Rotators on Early-Career Scientists

Sebastian Hoenen and Christos Kolympiris
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Sebastian Hoenen: Erasmus University
Christos Kolympiris: University of Warwick

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2020, vol. 102, issue 5, 852-866

Abstract: We show that academics with experience in government jobs generate spillovers for their early-career colleagues. Our template is the National Science Foundation rotation program in which the agency employs academics, called rotators, on loan from their university. Within two years after the rotator's return, fresh assistant professors in her department increase their research resources materially and are more likely to win small and medium-size grants compared to academics in three control groups. Consistent with evidence that the mechanism is mentoring from the rotator, the results suggest that access to individuals with insights gained outside academia propels scientific careers.

Date: 2020
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