What Is an Article Worth?

Abstract

This paper suggests a methodology by which the monetary value of an article can be calculated. Three types of benefits are discussed and quantified: direct salary increments, promotion-related salary increments, and career-related option effects. Using data from a national cross-section of university economists, the authors compute lifetime returns for selected article categories by academic rank. Their results suggest that the returns to publication of the first article are considerable, ranging from 12,340 for an assistant professor,to 10,256 for an associate professor, to $6,958 for a full professor, based on a 5 percent discount rate. The returns to additional publication diminish rapidly at first but at a lesser rate as the number of publications continues to increase. Elderly faculty who are well published can expect to earn a relatively small sum from the publication of an incremental article. This may help to explain the decline in output as faculty age observed by some scholars.