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Job Market Stars

Abel Brodeur, Lamis Kattan and Marco Musumeci

No 141, I4R Discussion Paper Series from The Institute for Replication (I4R)

Abstract: Graduating economics PhDs face intense competition when seeking faculty or research positions at universities and research institutions. We examine the relationship between statistically significant results, arguably used as indicators of research quality in a competitive academic market, and academic hiring outcomes. We start by investigating the determinants of academic success by analyzing 604 job market papers (JMPs) from 2018-2019 to 2020- 2021. We then turn to the practice of p-hacking focusing on 150 empirical JMPs. We find evidence that marginally significant results in JMPs are associated with higher academic placement likelihoods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a tighter job market strengthened this relationship without altering the p-hacking behavior of PhD candidates, suggesting that our results reflect a recruitment bias by academic employers. We also find evidence of publication bias, suggesting that recruiters may use statistical significance to gauge candidates' potential for future publications, thus influencing recruitment decisions. Overall, our findings provide insights into the dynamics of the academic job market and the factors influencing career trajectories in academia.

Keywords: Academic job market; p-Hacking; Publication bias; Research credibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B41 C13 C40 C93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sog
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