Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16845
Authors: Alex Edmans
Abstract: The academic finance profession has the potential to be uniquely purposeful due to four characteristics – the freedom to take risks and work on what we’re passionate about, the loyalty to our profession rather than just our institution, the collaborative nature of the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and the magnitude of our potential impact. However, what the profession currently values, and its current social norms, are significant barriers to the fulfilment of this potential. This article highlights the special features of our profession that we often take for granted and ignore, and proposes ideas to make it not only more impactful and relevant, but also more collegial and fun.
Keywords: purpose; citizenship; collegiality; research; teaching; impact; innovation
JEL Codes: A11; A13; A14; A22; A23; G00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| freedom to pursue passionate research (O36) | job satisfaction (J28) |
| freedom to pursue passionate research (O36) | persistence in research efforts (D29) |
| luck (Y60) | publication success (O36) |
| referee selection process (C78) | publication success (O36) |
| collaborative work (D26) | knowledge dissemination (O36) |
| collaborative work (D26) | innovation (O35) |
| profession's structure and norms (J44) | impact of finance professors (G40) |