How Economists Adopt Methods: Entry Barriers, Specialization, and Community Sorting

Status

Under review, Journal of Economic Methodology.

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Abstract

This paper studies how new methods spread through the economics profession and why some become mainstream while others stay niche. Adoption is shaped by the entry barriers a researcher faces in learning a technique, the returns to specializing in it, and the sorting of researchers into method-based communities. The framework is brought to evidence on the diffusion of econometric techniques through citation and authorship networks. It consolidates and supersedes the earlier working papers “Diffusion of Ideas” and “When Ideas Become Mainstream?”

Keywords

Economics Profession, Econometrics, Methodology, Diffusion of Ideas, Specialization, Community Sorting, Scientometrics

Citation

Chávez Padilla, Carlos César. 2026. “How Economists Adopt Methods: Entry Barriers, Specialization, and Community Sorting.” Under review, Journal of Economic Methodology.