The diffusion of ideas in the academy: A quantitative illustration from economics

Abstract

It has long been recognised in policy discussion that the influence of new ideas depends not just on their generation but also on the way in which they diffuse through society. However, while the spread of new ideas in industry has been much studied, there are no similar quantitative studies on diffusion within the academy. This paper addresses that gap by providing quantitative evidence on the adoption of two techniques for empirically testing hypotheses in economics. On the basis of this evidence, and contrary to a common expectation, the spread of ideas seems neither straightforward nor especially rapid in the academy.