Matthew
Subtitle: effect of fable?
By: Pierre Azoulay, Toby Stuart, Yanbo Wang
Contributors: Stuart, Toby; Wang, Yanbo; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 12-049; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 12-049.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2011
Place of publication: [Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 48
Description: 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 Investigator (HHMI) on citations to articles the scientist published before the prize was awarded. We do find evidence of a post-appointment 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 scientist and article quality.
Notes: "December 2011" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references.