Profiling giants: the networks and influence of Buchanan and Tullock

Etienne Farvaque and Frédéric Gannon

Public Choice, 2018, vol. 175, issue 3, No 5, 277-302

Abstract: Abstract This paper uses network analysis to measure the position and influence of two prominent academics, James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, founders of Public Choice theory. First, an account of their parallel lives is given. Second, a review of the literature and of the standard centrality measures is provided, insisting on their relevance to assess an author’s importance in a given network. Third, detailing the publication records and, overall, co-authorship networks of the two scholars, their respective influence is analyzed through the lens of network analysis. Their academic genealogy is also explored. It is shown in particular that: (1) Buchanan and Tullock’s careers followed parallel paths and co-founded Public Choice theory and the journal of the same name, although the two had few common works; (2) though being apparently very similar as to their centrality in the co-authoring network under scrutiny, their ego-networks are structured very differently, revealing diverse positions in the field and, thus, different influence on the discipline.

Keywords: Buchanan; Tullock; Networks; Co-authorship; Dissertation students; Influence; Public Choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A14 D85 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Profiling giants: The networks and influence of Buchanan and Tullock (2020)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11127-018-0535-3

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