Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.84.3.130-134

Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Determinants of Coauthorship for the Most
Productive Authors of Accounting Literature
Robert Rutledge & Khondkar Karim
To cite this article: Robert Rutledge & Khondkar Karim (2009) Determinants of Coauthorship
for the Most Productive Authors of Accounting Literature, Journal of Education for Business,
84:3, 130-134, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.84.3.130-134
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.84.3.130-134

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Determinants฀of฀Coauthorship฀for฀the฀Most฀
Productive฀Authors฀of฀Accounting฀Literature
ROBERT฀RUTLEDGE฀
TEXAS฀STATE฀UNIVERSITY฀
SAN฀MARCOS,฀TEXAS฀

ABSTRACT.฀All฀business฀faculty฀should฀
be฀interested฀in฀the฀circumstances฀under฀
which฀the฀most฀productive฀academic฀
authors฀publish฀their฀work.฀This฀is฀because฀
success฀in฀publishing฀connects฀closely฀

with฀universities’฀decisions฀on฀tenure฀and฀
promotion฀and฀with฀opportunities฀for฀meritbased฀pay฀increases฀and฀alternative฀employment.฀The฀purpose฀of฀the฀present฀study฀was฀
to฀examine฀the฀characteristics฀of฀published฀
articles฀by฀the฀most฀productive฀authors฀of฀
accounting฀literature฀with฀particular฀attention฀to฀levels฀of฀collaboration.฀The฀results฀
indicate฀that฀prolific฀authors฀of฀accounting฀
literature฀become฀more฀productive฀and฀produce฀longer฀articles฀by฀working฀with฀others.฀However,฀such฀prolific฀authors฀appear฀
to฀decrease฀the฀number฀of฀coauthors฀on฀
their฀higher฀quality฀publications,฀possibly฀
to฀increase฀the฀quality฀of฀their฀reputation.฀
From฀these฀findings,฀the฀present฀authors฀
derive฀implications฀for฀faculty฀and฀provide฀
concluding฀comments.
฀
Keywords:฀article฀length,฀coauthorship,฀
half-life฀factor,฀journal฀quality,฀prolific฀
authors
฀
Copyright฀©฀2008฀Heldref฀Publications

130฀

Journal฀of฀Education฀for฀Business

KHONDKAR฀KARIM฀
ROCHESTER฀INSTITUTE฀OF฀TECHNOLOGY฀
ROCHESTER,฀NEW฀YORK

T

oday,฀university฀faculty฀in฀most฀disciplines฀collaborate฀more฀than฀ever฀
in฀their฀published฀research฀(Beaver,฀2001;฀
Butcher฀&฀Jeffrey,฀2005;฀Glanzel,฀2002;฀
Zitt,฀Bassecoulard,฀&฀Okubo,฀2000).฀The฀
trend฀is฀especially฀noticeable฀in฀economics฀(Durden฀&฀Perri,฀1995;฀Handgraaf฀&฀
van฀Raaij,฀2005;฀Hudson,฀1996;฀Laband฀&฀
Wells,฀1998;฀Maske,฀Durden,฀&฀Gaynor,฀
2003).฀Within฀business,฀multiple-authored฀
articles฀in฀the฀top฀discipline-specific฀journals฀ have฀ increased฀ from฀ approximately฀
36%฀ in฀ the฀ 1970–1972฀ period฀ to฀ 77%฀

in฀ the฀ 2000–2002฀ period฀ (Manton฀ &฀฀
English,฀2007).
Several฀ researchers฀ have฀ tried฀ to฀
explain฀the฀rise฀in฀coauthorship฀over฀time฀
(Laband฀&฀Tollison,฀2000;฀McDowell฀&฀
Melvin,฀ 1983).฀ Funding฀ requirements,฀
particularly฀in฀large฀laboratory฀settings,฀
may฀ induce฀ collaboration฀ (Laband฀ &฀
Tollison;฀Zuckerman฀&฀Merton,฀1973).฀
Social฀scientists฀are฀rarely฀as฀dependent฀
on฀laboratories฀as฀are฀natural฀scientists.฀
However,฀an฀increase฀in฀large-scale฀data฀
collection฀efforts฀and฀training฀differences฀ among฀ disciplines฀ suggests฀ a฀ team฀
production฀model฀that฀produces฀benefits฀
from฀collaboration฀(Manton฀&฀English,฀
2007;฀Moody,฀2004).฀
The฀purpose฀of฀the฀present฀study฀was฀
to฀ examine฀ the฀ characteristics฀ of฀ published฀ articles฀ by฀ the฀ most฀ productive฀
authors฀ of฀ accounting฀ literature฀ with฀
particular฀attention฀to฀levels฀of฀collaboration.฀ We฀ studied฀ the฀ behavior฀ of฀ the฀

most฀ successful฀ accounting฀ researchers฀
because฀ those฀ are฀ the฀ persons฀ whom฀
other฀ accounting฀ faculty฀ should฀ most฀
want฀ to฀ emulate.฀ We฀ predicted฀ that฀ a฀
relation฀exists฀between฀the฀total฀number฀
of฀coauthors฀on฀a฀publication฀by฀a฀prolific฀author฀and฀the฀length฀of฀the฀article,฀
the฀ publication฀ journal’s฀ impact฀ (i.e.,฀
frequency฀ of฀ citations฀ of฀ the฀ journal’s฀
articles),฀the฀type฀of฀review฀by฀the฀journal,฀ and฀ the฀ productive฀ author’s฀ total฀
number฀of฀published฀articles.
The฀ results฀ of฀ the฀ present฀ study฀
indicate฀ that฀ all฀ of฀ the฀ above฀ variables฀
are฀ significantly฀ related฀ to฀ the฀ number฀ of฀ coauthors฀ indicated฀ on฀ productive฀ authors’฀ published฀ articles.฀ These฀
results฀suggest฀that฀faculty฀who฀want฀to฀
emulate฀the฀more฀successful฀accounting฀
researchers฀should฀work฀with฀others฀so฀
that฀ they฀ can฀ produce฀ longer฀ and฀ more฀
published฀ articles.฀ However,฀ emulation฀
of฀ successful฀ faculty฀ will฀ also฀ include฀

decreasing฀the฀number฀of฀coauthors฀on฀
higher฀quality฀published฀articles฀to฀create฀a฀higher฀quality฀reputation.
We฀ organize฀ the฀ remainder฀ of฀ this฀
article฀as฀follows.฀First,฀we฀discuss฀the฀
relevant฀ literature฀ and฀ show฀ our฀ development฀ of฀ testable฀ hypotheses.฀ Then,฀
we฀ discuss฀ the฀ research฀ methodology฀
used฀ in฀ this฀ study,฀ including฀ sample฀
selection฀ procedures฀ and฀ statistical฀
tests.฀Next,฀we฀report฀the฀results฀of฀the฀
data฀ analysis฀ and฀ statistical฀ tests,฀ and฀
last,฀ we฀ provide฀ concluding฀ remarks,฀

including฀ a฀ discussion฀ of฀ implications฀
for฀accounting฀faculty.฀
Review฀of฀Related฀Research฀and฀
Hypotheses฀Development

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Length฀of฀the฀Article

McDowell฀and฀Melvin฀(1983)฀developed฀ and฀ tested฀ models฀ of฀ the฀ determinants฀ of฀ coauthorship.฀ Their฀ initial฀
model฀ assumed฀ that฀ reduced฀ value฀ and฀
effort฀are฀required฀for฀short฀articles฀relative฀ to฀ long฀ articles.฀ Thus,฀ the฀ model฀
suggested฀ that฀ coauthorship฀ likely฀
relates฀to฀article฀length,฀which,฀in฀turn,฀
may฀ be฀ appropriately฀ measured฀ as฀ the฀
number฀ of฀ article฀ pages.฀ Laband฀ and฀
Tollison฀(2000)฀empirically฀studied฀this฀
collaboration฀relation฀in฀economics฀and฀
found฀ a฀ significant฀ positive฀ relation฀ (p฀