Lorenzo Ductor & Bauke Visser, 2022. "Network effects or rent extraction? Evidence from editorial board rotation", ThE Papers 22/13, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
Abstract: A department’s yearly publication count in a journal increases when a member of the department joins the journal’s editorial board. The common interpretation of this fact—that during the board member’s tenure, departmental colleagues publish more—is inaccurate. In a sample of 106 economics journals covering 1990-2011, we estimate that of the observed increase in the publication count, 73 per cent is (co-)authored by board members themselves. Their single-authored papers in a journal receive significantly less citations if they are on that journal’s editorial board. We find no evidence that they discover attractive papers among their colleagues that otherwise wouldn’t be published.