The Impact of Nobel Prize Winners in Economics: Mainline vs. Mainstream

We assess the impact of two groups of economists: mainline economists, who regard economics primarily as the science of exchange and mainstream economists, who perceive economics primarily as the science of choice. To control for scholarly quality we investigate the citation impact of Nobel Prize winning economists, who we break up into the two groups, mainline and mainstream. We find that over the period from 1970 to 2007 mainline economists had more of an impact than mainstream economists. Contemporary fame does not ensure lasting fame-the leaders of what prove to be scientific fads recede from even the histories of the science ... This series of lectures is presented by economists [Nobel Laureates] who have met at least the requirement that their work has been recognized by contemporaries. A later age will separate the fundamental from the faddish contributions. -George J. Stigler ([1985] 2009: 79) But it is not the popular movement, but the traveling of the minds of men who sit in the seat of Adam Smith that is really serious and worthy of all attention. -Lord Acton (1904: 212)