Research efficiency: Perverse incentives - Paula Stephan. How Economics Shapes Science — Paula Stephan. Miedema-DEGIDS-2013-8-P35-37.pdf. Séminaire SciScI du 17 février 2012. Review: “How Economics Shapes Science,” by Paula Stephan. "How Economics Shapes Science" I recently finished a very interesting and useful book entitled, “How Economics Shapes Science,” written by the economist Paula Stephan (Professor of Economics, Georgia State University and a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research).
Stephan is an economist who accidentally became an expert in science economics, a little vignette that sets a nice tone for the book, which is superb overall — well-written, smartly structured, and well-referenced. In fact, for the serious reader, I’d recommend ordering it in print because the ability to flip back and forth between the nicely designed and very usable notes pages and the main text is vital to enjoying the book. While the topic is of inherent interest to anyone working in the sciences, Stephan also touches on many points of particular interest to publishers, including why authors publish and related issues. (Editor’s note: An interview with the author was published with this review.)