TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jin, Ginger Zhe
AU  - Jones, Benjamin
AU  - Lu, Susan Feng
AU  - Uzzi, Brian
TI  - The Reverse Matthew Effect:  Catastrophe and Consequence in Scientific Teams
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 19489
PY  - 2013
Y2  - October 2013
DO  - 10.3386/w19489
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w19489
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w19489.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Ginger Zhe Jin
University of Maryland
Department of Economics
College Park, MD  20742-7211
Tel: 301/405-3484
Fax: 301/405-3542
E-Mail: ginger@umd.edu

Benjamin Jones
Northwestern University
Kellogg School of Management
Department of Management and Strategy
2211 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL  60208
Tel: 847/491-3177
Fax: 847/467-1777
E-Mail: bjones@kellogg.northwestern.edu

Susan Feng Lu
KRA 441
Krannert School of Management
Purdue University
Rochester, NY, 14620
E-Mail: lu428@purdue.edu

Brian Uzzi
Kellogg School of Management
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
E-Mail: uzzi@kellogg.northwestern.edu
AB  - Teamwork pervades modern economies, yet teamwork can make individual roles difficult to ascertain.  In the sciences, the canonical "Matthew Effect" suggests that eminent team members garner credit for great works at the expense of less eminent team members.  We study this phenomenon in reverse, investigating how damaging events, article retractions, affect citations to the authors' prior publications.  We find that retractions impose little citation penalty on eminent coauthors, but less eminent coauthors face substantial citation declines, especially when teamed with an eminent author. This asymmetry suggests a "Reverse Matthew Effect" for team-produced catastrophes. A Bayesian model provides a candidate interpretation.
ER  -