Topics and trends in finance research: What is published, who publishes it and what gets cited?

Abstract

In this study we provide a detailed examination of the subject matter of finance research and its institutional features as it has evolved over the past two decades. Drawing on novel approaches from data science, we examine the content of more than 30,000 published papers. Overall, we find a striking lack of diversity in the topics investigated and the methodological approaches used. Almost all finance research is conducted using techniques from economics and mathematics, with virtually no use made of qualitative methods or interdisciplinary approaches. Looking at the developments of the discipline over time, we document an increase in the volume of corporate finance research and a variation in the topics covered following the financial crisis, although these changes appear to be reactive and trivial rather than paradigm shifts. We also provide a cartography of research in finance and its citation-based impact by the location of authors. Leading finance research is concentrated in elite US institutions, and has a disproportionately strong citation-based impact. Compared with other business and management sub-fields, citations in finance are heavily skewed towards the top journals as the latter generate almost twice as much impact as the lower rated outlets.

Why does research in finance have so little impact?

“…These findings of increasingly homogenised research designs of finance publications in the 'top' journals correspond well to the results of a recent study of more than 30,000 papers published in finance which revealed that less than one percent of the work examined represents qualitative research such as interviews, case studies, or experiments (Brooks & Schopohl, 2018). In addition, the study shows that only a very small proportion of the studies could be classified as interdisciplinary (taking ideas or methodologies from other fields), in contrast to other subject areas in social science.…”

“…Although our focus in this study is on the 'elite' journals, Brooks & Schopohl (2018) provide evidence that the broad subject areas within finance (e.g., asset pricing versus corporate finance), and even the narrower topics within each of these areas, are fairly similar across journals with different ABS list ratings. In addition, they show that the use of methodological approaches other than the quantitative empirical analysis of datasets (e.g., surveys or interviews, case studies, experiments) takes place in just over 1% percent of published papers.…”

“…In addition, they show that the use of methodological approaches other than the quantitative empirical analysis of datasets (e.g., surveys or interviews, case studies, experiments) takes place in just over 1% percent of published papers. In finance, the ability of 'elite' journals to mould the field and establish the research agendas appears even stronger than elsewhere as citations to articles published in 'top' journals are much more concentrated (Brooks & Schopohl, 2018).…”

“…In numerous sub-fields of business and management there is a feeling among scholars that research has become standardised in terms of topic, approach, methodology and style of writing. For example, there is almost a complete lack of interdisciplinary research in finance, it constituting only around 3% of published studies (Brooks & Schopohl, 2018). Alvesson & Gabriel (2013) lament what they term the 'standardisation of research and publications into formulaic patterns that constrain the imagination and creativity of scholars and restrict the social relevance of their work' (p. 245).…”

“…The fact that these research evaluation exercises examined work produced before and after the financial crisis respectively provides a useful 'natural experiment' enabling us to examine whether finance research responded and was able to provide potential solutions to this key issue that the world faced. Second, the UK is the number two single-country producer of scholarly finance research after the US (see Brooks & Schopohl, 2018, Table 5) but as we document below, the former hides in the shadow of the latter. Third, of relevance is the importance of the financial sector in the UK, where London is the world's largest such centre with financial services driving the country's GDP.…”