Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15636
Authors: Brad Barber; Wei Jiang; Adair Morse; Manju Puri; Heather Tookes; Ingrid M. Werner
Abstract: How has COVID-19 impacted faculty productivity? Does it differ by characteristics such as gender and family structure? To answer these questions, we conduct a survey of American Finance Association (AFA) members. Overall, faculty respondents report lower research productivity with less time allocated to research and more time allocated to teaching. There is also heterogeneity: 14.5% of respondents report an increase in productivity. We find the negative effects on research productivity are particularly large for women and faculty with young children regardless of gender. Thus, the pandemic has the effect of widening the gender gap for women and creates a “family gap” in productivity for both men and women with young children. Lower research productivity for faculty with young children is explained, to a large extent, by increased time spent on childcare. Our results suggest the need for deliberate policy to factor in these underlying mechanisms. We caution that a one-size-fits-all tenure-clock extension can have unintended negative consequences of increasing disparity.
Keywords: COVID-19; Pandemic; Academic Finance; Profession; Research Productivity; Gender; Family Structure; Tenure
JEL Codes: A22; A23; G0; I23; J13; J16; J22; J24; J44
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | decline in research productivity (D29) |
| increased childcare responsibilities (J13) | decline in research productivity (D29) |
| time reallocation towards teaching and childcare (J29) | decline in research productivity (D29) |
| children's age (J13) | research productivity (O47) |
| institutional financial conditions (G21) | decline in research productivity (D29) |
| junior faculty (M51) | decline in research productivity (D29) |