John Nye claims Joel Mokyr wouldn’t get tenure today because he lacked 'top‑5' journal publications until late in his career. He argues older hiring norms that balanced judgment with publications were better at recognizing truly innovative scholars than today’s mechanical metrics.
— If tenure and hiring hinge on narrow prestige signals, universities may filter out high‑impact thinkers, weakening research quality and the pipeline of ideas that shape policy and growth.
Tyler Cowen
2025.10.16
100% relevant
“Joel did not get a top 5 pub till the late 2010s… By today’s standards, he would not have gotten tenure at most strong and second tier departments.”
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