Matthew: Effect or Fable?

Pierre Azoulay (), Toby Stuart () and Yanbo Wang ()
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Pierre Azoulay: MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Toby Stuart: Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720
Yanbo Wang: Boston University School of Management, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

Management Science, 2014, vol. 60, issue 1, 92-109

Abstract: In a market context, a status effect occurs when actors are accorded differential recognition for their efforts depending on their location in a status ordering, holding constant the quality of these efforts. In practice, because it is very difficult to measure quality, this ceteris paribus proviso often precludes convincing empirical assessments of the magnitude of status effects. We address this problem by examining the impact of a major status-conferring prize that shifts actors' positions in a prestige ordering. Specifically, using a precisely constructed matched sample, we estimate the effect of a scientist becoming a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator on citations to articles the scientist published before the prize was awarded. We do find evidence of a postappointment citation boost, but the effect is small and limited to a short window of time. Consistent with theories of status, however, the effect of the prize is significantly larger when there is uncertainty about article quality, and when prize winners are of (relatively) low status at the time of election to the HHMI Investigator Program. This paper was accepted by David Hsu, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Keywords: sociology of science; status; stratification; Matthew effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (73)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:60:y:2014:i:1:p:92-109

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