Economists are pro-competition, warning against concentrated markets – dominated by a few large firms that face too little pressure to keep prices down or quality up.
But where is concentration high and increasing? In economics itself, according to fascinatingnew research by US and Chinese academics. They gathered data on the top researchers (those receiving the most prestigious awards –, such as Nobel prizes) across different scientific fields, spanning engineering, natural and social sciences.
In almost every discipline, from chemistry to medicine, the story is one of diffusion – top talent is becoming more widely spread across universities over time, not least as emerging economies develop research ecosystems.
The one exception is economics. Economics Nobel winners are far more concentrated in just a few universities, and half of those with top awards are from just 3.3% of universities. Harvard, Chicago and MIT dominate, as does the US generally.
The authors say this partly reflects economists being free to head off to top institutions if their careers take off because they lack the ties to specific kit that can keep engineers or physicists in one place. But that can’t explain the difference with other social sciences – sociology doesn’t require a Hadron Collider.
They also point to the elevated “role of prestige” in economics, where debates and research agendas are unusually dominated by a few high-status individuals and institutions, creating strong incentives to head to prestigious universities to have your work taken seriously.
Whatever the reason, the concentration of top economists in such a small number of universities, in one small part of the world, creates the risk of group think and narrower research agendas at a time when lots of big economic questions need answering. What does economics need? More competition.
• Torsten Bell is Labour MP for Swansea West and author of Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back
