 ccording
to a recent analysis of the ISI
Essential Science Indicators
Web product, the Universitat Pompeu Fabra has achieved the
highest percent increase in total citations in the field of
Economics and Business for the December 2004-February 2005
period, with 283 papers cited a total of 1,776 times to date.
The university has been in operation only since 1990, and its
Department of Economics and Business is working jointly with
several other institutions in Spain
to make the city of Barcelona a leading center of economics
research in the world. In the interview below, Professor
Xavier Calsamiglia, Director of the Department of Economics
and Business, talks about the institution’s highly cited
work in this field.
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 How
do you account for the Universitat Pompeu Fabra's significant increase
in the number of citations in the field of Economics & Business in
recent years?
Publication in economics is a very slow process. Consequently,
citations in economics also take a long time to build up.
|
“The work of UPF researchers has led to important advances in the understanding of how and why economies grow, on the working of monetary policy, and on the microfoundations of human behavior, both from an empirical and a theoretical perspective.”
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Since ours is a very young institution, it is not strange that it
took about a decade since the creation until we started being
recognized through citations. From the very start we had a high
growth and an aggressive recruiting policy.
Does
this reflect a deliberate plan to enhance the university's research
effort in this field, or was this an unexpected or serendipitous
development?
There is a deliberate plan to produce good research in economics
and business, but as explained in the last question, this has been
the case since the beginning. What you see is simply the result of a
decade of hard work.
Are
there specific areas of research within Economics & Business on
which the Universitat Pompeu Fabra particularly focuses?
We happen to be strong in such different fields as
macroeconomics, microeconomics, experimental economics, health
economics, and organizational behavior, but this is somewhat
serendipitous. Some of our first researchers in those areas were
well recognized, and therefore recruiting of promising researchers
in those areas was made easier.
What
factors or circumstances led the Universitat Pompeu Fabra to its work
in this field?
There has been a big tradition in Spain
to support graduate studies abroad in economics. Grants from the
Bank of Spain, and later by some other banks and foundations, led to
a large wave of young economists trained abroad coming back to Spain
in the early ‘90s, just when our institution was created.
What
research fields or capabilities do you see as critical for the future
of the university?
Our university has made strategic positioning in biotechnology,
taking advantage of the tradition of good work in the life sciences
in Barcelona. This is a wise decision in the context of the
evolution of science. A continuing effort to consolidate our
position in economics is also critical for the university as it also
plays on one of our existing strengths.
What
are the implications of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra's work for the
future of this particular field or neighboring fields?
The work of UPF researchers has led to important advances in the
understanding of how and why economies grow, on the working of
monetary policy, and on the microfoundations of human behavior, both
from an empirical and a theoretical perspective. It is hard to
overstate the importance of these discoveries as they impact our
daily lives in significant ways.
Xavier Calsamiglia, Ph.D.
Departament d'Economia i Empresa
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Barcelona, Spain
| Universitat Pompeu Fabra's
most-cited paper with 164 cites to date: |
|
Clarida R, Gali J, and Gertler M, "The science of monetary policy: a new Keynesian perspective,"
J. Econ. Lit. 37(4): 1661-1707, December 1999. |
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Source:
ISI
Essential Science Indicators |
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cites
