UC Berkeley

This study contributes to the existing literature on the impact of conference presentations on career progression by quantifying the predictive power of conferences for publication success. Examining outcomes for more than 4000 papers presented at three leading economics conferences over the 2006–2012 period, we find a positive link between conference presentations and the publishing probability in high-quality journals. This impact is most profound for prominent authors and male authors. In contrast, lesser known authors and female authors appear to gain less from conferences. Additionally, participating in major conferences is also associated with improved metrics for other measures of academic success such as the number of citations or abstract views. Further examination shows that annual meetings of the American Economic Association are particularly valuable in these dimensions.