An analysis of parochialism at the JPE and QJE

Does a journal affiliated with a particular ideological or political belief, intellectual tradition, or methodological approach have parochial loyalties to their faculty members and doctorates? Examination of articles published in the Journal of Political Economy (affiliated with the University of Chicago) and the Quarterly Journal of Economics (affiliated with Harvard University) in 1990 found that articles by Harvard faculty and their doctorates are not less likely to be selected as lead articles in the JPE and articles by Chicago faculty and their doctorates are not more likely to be selected in the lead position in the JPE. Articles by Harvard faculty and their doctorates are not more likely to be selected in the lead position in the QJE and Chicago faculty and their doctorates are not less likely to have their articles selected in the lead position in the QJE. In addition, articles by authors with parochial connections to the JPE or the QJE do not publish articles of lesser quality. Articles by Harvard faculty and Chicago faculty who publish in the JPE are statistically and numerically of higher quality than authors without such parochial connections and this quality differential does not diminish over time.