Alphabetic norm and research output

Ang Li and Ben Li

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, vol. 185, issue C, 50-60

Abstract: In what order should coauthors be listed on journal articles? The norm in the economics profession is to order them alphabetically. Our examination of 42 leading economics journals for the last 21 years finds that articles not following this norm are shorter (by 3.2 percent), published in less prestigious journals (by 5.0 percent), and receiving fewer citations (by 9.1 percent). This association survives various identification checks. Our findings shed light on how teamwork incentives interplay with social norms — in this case, a deviance from the alphabetic norm punishes alphabetically early members more than it rewards alphabetically late members.

Keywords: Alphabetic bias; Asymmetric information; Social norms; Economics profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A1 D8 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:185:y:2021:i:c:p:50-60

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.02.015

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