Scientific production, externalities and academic competition: microeconomic applications.

Summary In a context where the search for academic excellence is at the heart of the concerns of academic institutions and public authorities, this thesis aims to contribute to the study of the determinants of the scientific production of French professors in economics. By mobilizing original data from teacher-researchers' applications for the "Prime d'Excellence Scientifique", the four proposed contributions seek to articulate two important dimensions, which have rarely been addressed jointly in the literature: the effects of collective externalities in scientific production, and the multitasking nature of teacher-researchers' activity. The first chapter of the thesis analyzes the determinants of the award of the Prime d'Excellence Scientifique (PES) to French professors in economics. We focus on the multitasking character of individual production and the dynamic dimension of this particular form of academic competition implemented since 2009. Econometric results obtained from a sequential model show that scientific publications are the most important determinant of the chances of success in the ESP. We identify discouraging factors during this dynamic tournament. The results also show that past promotion under the previous PEDR scheme increases the promotion chances of teacher-researchers. The second chapter looks at the determining factor in the allocation of the PES and the promotion of teacher-researchers: scientific production. This chapter highlights that the externalities associated with the research environment of teacher-researchers are likely to explain both the individual dynamics of scientific production and the concentration of this production among a small number of teacher-researchers. Our econometric results by quantiles conclude that there are two extreme scientific production regimes: multipurpose and specialist. However, our results do not refute the existence of a scientific production cycle that would be sensitive to the stock of skills accumulated in the work environment of teacher-researchers. Taking into account the potential interactions between teaching and research tasks highlighted in the second chapter, the third chapter proposes to analyze, using a theoretical and econometric model, the effects of the research environment on the choice of activities of teacher-researchers. By controlling for the simultaneity and endogeneity of the choice of teaching and research tasks, the econometric results on our data largely confirm the theoretical predictions: the effects of externalities resulting from the spatial concentration of research and/or training skills at a given time, leads to "typical" profiles of specialists (in research or training) or, on the contrary, "generalists" combining scientific production, pedagogical implications and collective responsibilities. Taking into account the heterogeneity of scientific publications in economics, the fourth chapter analyses the determinants of the "quantity-quality" trade-off in scientific production. In particular, we study the determinants of the choice of two types of publications defined in the CNRS ranking of economics journals: first-ranked publications and second-ranked publications. The econometric results of the joint estimation of these two types of publications conclude that there is a trade-off between good quality publications and publications in less well ranked journals, a trade-off that is sensitive to the externality effects of the research environment of teacher-researchers.