Striking the Mother Lode in Science: The Importance of Age, Place and Time.

• Author: Colander, David C.

I am known as a critic of much of the academic economic research done in the U.S. My complaints must have been heard by the Managing Editor at the Southern Economic Journal because he sent me a book of serious research by economists that I think is good research. Striking the Mother Lode in Science is in many ways a model of the way I believe economic research should be done.

The book consists of nine chapters. The first chapter provides a general overview. The second addresses institutional context, as it discusses how and why science is done. The next three chapters address the question of whether age matters to research. In answering this question, the authors distinguish between eminent scientists, who often make their breakthroughs early, and the average scientist, for whom age does not matter nearly as much. Chapter 6 addresses the importance of time and place. They point out that a scientist's career is often made by being in the right place at the right time. Chapters 7 and 8 consider the question of whether cohorts of scientists vary in quality (They conclude that they do.) Chapter 9 presents the authors' conclusions and policy recommendations, which I will discuss below. But first let me enumerate briefly the methodological aspects of their research that I like.

(1) A real problem, not an analytic exercise, underlies their research. They started with a question, "Is science a young person's game?" Then they asked: What method of analysis is most appropriate to answer this question? The question, not the available techniques, determined their methodology. Throughout their analysis they apply economic reasoning in institutional context. They do not attempt to draw grand implications from general analytic systems. Instead they try to add a bit to our common sense.

(2) The question they address has policy relevance. What the answer to this question is important to more than just other academic economists--it is important to policy makers.

(3) In their analysis they use a realistic premise of what scientists do, not a formal, but unrealistic, premise. Scientists, Levin and Stephan argue, are after "puzzle, ribbon, and gold." In their analysis they consider how the pursui of these three goals influences the practice of science.

(4) They write in such a way that a broad group of intelligent lay people can follow their argument. They have no formal model; they use the economic model as a backdrop, but then use their common sense to...