American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Innovative Ideas and Gender (In)equality
American Economic Review
(pp. 2207–36)
Abstract
This paper analyzes recognition of women's innovative ideas compared to men's using bibliometric data in economics, mathematics, and sociology. I establish similarities between papers to construct relevant counterfactual citations. On average, all-female papers receive 10 percent fewer citations than all-male papers, a disparity reduced by 40 percent when considering team sizes and disappearing in most fields with authors' publication records. Additionally, strong in-group preferences emerge: All-male teams omit more papers with women, and vice versa. Accounting for publication histories, female scholars are cited 0 percent (economics) to 11 percent (mathematics) less, with early-career women enduring a 9–14 percent citation penalty.Citation
Koffi, Marlène. 2025. "Innovative Ideas and Gender (In)equality." American Economic Review 115 (7): 2207–36. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20211811Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A14 Sociology of Economics
- C45 Neural Networks and Related Topics
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination