On the Matthew effect in research careers

Gustav Feichtinger, Dieter Grass, Peter Kort and Andrea Seidl

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2021, vol. 123, issue C

Abstract: The observation that a socioeconomic agent with a high reputation gets a disproportionately higher recognition for the same work than an agent with lower reputation is typical in career development and wealth. This phenomenon, which is known as Matthew effect in the literature, leads to an increasing inequality over time. The present paper employs an optimal control model to study the implications of the Matthew effect on the optimal efforts of a scientist into reputation.

Keywords: Optimal control; History-dependent solution; Abnormal solution; Career planning; Matthew effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:123:y:2021:i:c:s0165188920302268

DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2020.104058

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