What Have economists been doing for the last 50 years? A text analysis of published academic research from 1960–2010

This paper presents the results of a text based exploratory study of over 20,000 academic articles published in seven top research journals from 1960–2010. The goal is to investigate the general research foci of economists over the last fifty years, how (if at all) they have changed over time, and what trends (if any) can be discerned from a broad body of the top academic research in the field. Of the 19 JEL-code based fields studied in the literature, most have retained a constant level of attention over the time period of this study, however, a notable exception is that of macroeconomics which has undergone a significantly diminishing level of research attention in the last couple of decades, across all the journals under study; at the same time, the “microfoundations” of macroeconomic papers appears to be increasing. Other results on co-authorship trends and depth of research articles are also presented

Small Hydropower Potential in Missouri

Track I: Power GenerationIncludes audio file (20 min.)The overall objective of this research is to advance our understanding of how, and to what degree, small hydropower development can aid in the fight against global warming. The leading cause of climate change today is the burning of fossil fuels related to energy production. One approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, therefore, is to more actively switch to proven renewable technologies, including small hydropower, in the production of electricity and reduce the use of fossil fuels in electricity production. We make the important distinction in this research project between “small” and “traditional” hydropower plants, because “small” hydropower, at generation capacities of less than 30 MW per site, has few to no negative effects on local river ecosystems. This makes their benefits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions even more appealing. Additionally, small hydropower is a proven technology with a number of benefits besides just emissions-free electric power, including domestic reliability, decentralization externalities, and significant energy efficiency properties. Finally, development of small hydropower sites throughout Missouri would create jobs, help to satisfy growing energy demands, and qualify under Missouri's new Renewable Portfolio Standard, passed by the voters in November, 2008. This research documents the small hydropower sites available for development within the state of Missouri, the amount of carbon emissions that could be reduced by building these sites, and finally, it provides site-specific benefit-cost analyses of actual construction of these small hydropower plants. Preliminary results of this research find that while the costs of small hydropower development are not always small, the relative benefits are often much larger than expected. Small hydropower development would also create jobs, spur the economy, and strengthen valuable energy infrastructure in the U.S

What Have Economists Been Doing for the Last 50 Years? A Text Analysis of Published Academic Research from 1960–2010

This paper presents the results of a text based exploratory study of over 20,000 academic articles published in seven top research journals from 1960 - 2010. The goal is to investigate the general research foci of economists over the last fifty years, how (if at all) they have changed over time, and what trends (if any) can be discerned from a broad body of the top academic research in the field. Of the 19 JEL-code based fields studied in the literature, most have retained a constant level of attention over the time period of this study, however, a notable exception is that of macroeconomics which has undergone a significantly diminishing level of research attention in the last couple of decades, across all the journals under study; at the same time, the "microfoundations" of macroeconomic papers appears to be increasing. Other results on co-authorship trends and depth of research articles are also presented

What Have Economists Been Doing for the Last 50 Years? A Text Analysis of Published Academic Research from 1960–2010

This paper presents the results of a text based exploratory study of over 20,000 academic articles published in seven top research journals from 1960–2010. The goal is to investigate the general research foci of economists over the last fifty years, how (if at all) they have changed over time, and what trends (if any) can be discerned from a broad body of the top academic research in the field. Of the 19 JEL-code based fields studied in the literature, most have retained a constant level of attention over the time period of this study, however, a notable exception is that of macroeconomics which has undergone a significantly diminishing level of research attention in the last couple of decades, across all the journals under study; at the same time, the “microfoundations” of macroeconomic papers appears to be increasing. Other results on co-authorship trends and depth of research articles are also presented

Sources of Bureaucratic Delay: A Case Study of FERC Dam Relicensing

This paper investigates the sources for regulatory delay in bureaucratic decision making, testing regulatory capture, congressional dominance, and bureaucratic discretion theories of agency behavior. The empirical context concerns relicenses issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for hydroelectric dams, which have taken anywhere from just ten months to over sixteen years to be issued. The reasons for this heterogeneity in regulatory processing times can be expected to be varied and numerous and indeed we find evidence that outside interest groups, the legislature, and bureaucratic discretion are all significant in affecting regulatory processing times. Our most intriguing results concern the effects of environmental interest groups, which, despite their apparent benefit/cost motivation to hasten the relicensing process (independent of relicensing outcomes), overall end up slowing it down. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

Aging in Style: Does How We Write Matter?

The scholarly impact of academic research matters for academic promotions, influence, relevance to public policy, and others. Focusing on writing style in top-level professional journals, we examine how it changes with age, how stylistic differences and age affect impact, and how style and prior scholarly output relate to an author's subsequent achievements and labor-force decisions. As top-level scholars age, their writing style increasingly differs from others'. The impact (measured by citations) of each contribution decreases, due to the direct effect of age and the much smaller indirect effects through style. Non-native English speakers write in a different style from others, in ways that reduce the impact of their research. Scholars produce less top-flight work as they age, especially those who have produced less in the recent past, whose work is less cited, and whose styles have been more positive. Previously less productive authors are more likely to retire