Some musings on productivity

Jake ThornockUniversity of Washington

Executive summary• Live a balanced life and find your “why”

• Find great co-authors and be a great co-author

• Think first, then do

Don’t work too hard• Why would I say this is my number one

point?!• Balance => success, not the reverse• We clearly understand the law of diminishing

returns. Do we truly believe it??• Efficiency is the operative word• Celebrate the wins

Find your “why”• Why

• Why & who > what > how

• If we believe that balance leads to success, then why can’t we admit that we got into this business to try for a more balanced life?

Finding co-authors• This is a people business– Friends not necessarily good co-authors

• Find people with – complementary skills, – but similar research interests and hunger– research synergies

Being a co-author– Don’t let stuff get stuck on your desk– Don’t sweat small stuff– Be flexible– Work with teaching/service schedules– Emphasize your personal comparative advantage– You will likely do the heavy lifting early on• MB = MC

Think first, then do• Learn to write clearly, argumentatively, and

persuasively• Your opinion counts, but the opinion of the

editor, reviewer and reader counts more• Develop thick skin• Hardest part is “why”, then “what”, then

“how”• Work on paper’s contribution; Papers mostly

rejected on RQ not RD

Don’t worship at the altar of ***• T-stats and *** do not make a good paper!• A good question > a good test

LET’S WRITE A PAPER TOGETHER!!!

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETR CURRENT ETR

??????? -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***

(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

??????? -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***

(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

??????? 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000

(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

??????? 0.000 -0.000 0.000

(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

SIZE 0.013*** 0.017*** 0.018***

(15.61) (22.05) (21.21)

ROA -0.000 0.000 0.000

(-0.53) (1.50) (0.26)

SALES -0.000 -0.000 0.000*

(-0.21) (-0.56) (1.77)

MARKET TO BOOK -0.000 -0.000 -0.000

(-1.60) (-1.05) (-0.97)

LEV 0.000 0.000 -0.001*

(0.55) (0.72) (-1.72)

CASH -0.004*** -0.003** 0.000

(-3.00) (-2.54) (0.28)

NOL -0.078*** -0.062*** -0.079***

(-20.57) (-19.41) (-21.74)

CHG_NOL -0.000 -0.000 0.001**

(-0.28) (-0.47) (1.97)

FORINC 0.007*** 0.005*** -0.003

(3.77) (3.01) (-0.72)

EQINC -0.032** -0.020** -0.032**

(-1.98) (-2.12) (-2.46)

PPE 0.000 0.000 0.000

(0.38) (0.39) (0.50)

INTANG 0.000 0.001 0.000

INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YES

S.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRM

OBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2

0.084 0.112 0.096

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETRCURRENT

ETR

??????? -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

??????? -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

??????? 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

??????? 0.000 -0.000 0.000(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

       INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YESS.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRMOBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2 0.084 0.112 0.096

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETRCURRENT

ETR

ZIP CODE -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

??????? -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

??????? 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

??????? 0.000 -0.000 0.000(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

       INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YESS.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRMOBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2 0.084 0.112 0.096

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETRCURRENT

ETR

ZIP CODE -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

GVKEY -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

??????? 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

??????? 0.000 -0.000 0.000(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

       INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YESS.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRMOBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2 0.084 0.112 0.096

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETRCURRENT

ETR

ZIP CODE -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

GVKEY -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

AREA CODE 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

??????? 0.000 -0.000 0.000(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

       INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YESS.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRMOBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2 0.084 0.112 0.096

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

VARIABLE CASH ETR GAAP ETRCURRENT

ETR

ZIP CODE -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-4.87) (-2.59) (-3.18)

GVKEY -0.000*** -0.000*** -0.000***(-9.68) (-7.67) (-7.27)

AREA CODE 0.000*** 0.000*** 0.000(2.89) (3.67) (1.47)

SIC 0.000 -0.000 0.000(0.89) (-0.31) (0.69)

       INDUSTRY FIXED EFFECTS YES YES YESS.E. CLUSTERED BY: FIRM FIRM FIRMOBSERVATIONS 29,754 29,754 29,754

ADJUSTED R2 0.084 0.112 0.096

Don’t just take my word for it:some quick advice from some friends

• Leslie Robinson, Dartmouth• Sarah McVay, Univ. of Washington• Mike Drake, BYU

Leslie Robinson• I keep three lists – long-term, medium-term, and short-term

tasks. On the long-term list would be things that I needed to schedule large chunks of time for (i.e., an entire week) while short-term things were things that would take an hour or two at most, and then everything in between on the medium list.

• I exercise religiously. Have a hobby to recharge!• I ask for help.• I keep a clean, uncluttered, well-organized office. The state

of my office and the state of my ability to think clearly are correlated 100 percent.

Sarah McVay• 1. Think carefully about project selection. A project generally takes 3-4 years to

complete. Is it interesting? Is it testable? Do you believe it? Be sure it’s worth it.• 2. Work on closest to submission/publication first, the newer projects are

always more fun and often seem more promising since they haven’t yet been rejected. New projects are your reward for getting your old projects under review.

• 3. Try to have something under review at all times. Your pipeline should include (at least) one data-stage, one presentation-stage and one review-stage paper (rolling).

• 4. Play “hot potato” with your co-authors. If a paper is on someone else’s desk, it’s making forward progress without your time and effort.

• 5. Submit to conferences! For publication or not, it gives you a deadline and visibility.

• 6. Volunteer as a reviewer and discussant! It’s good visibility and it’s amazing how many people expect someone to review their paper, yet don’t volunteer to review others’ papers.

• 7. Remember, it won’t always be this hard! This profession front-loads a lot of start-up costs into the early years. Hang in there!

Mike Drake• Avoid data overload– Fehrenheit 451: data gives you “a sense of motion

without moving.” – Research is much more about reading/thinking

then it is about writing programs.• Identify solutions– Doctoral students are generally excellent at finding

problems– Productivity comes from solving problems, not

just finding them

Conclusion• For me, being productive occurs when– My life is somewhat balanced– I work with other productive people– I’m thinking clearly and selectively

• My recipe for success will differ from yours

Conclusion: Pep talk• Best job ever!– Great people– Entrepreneurial– Flexible– Rewarding relationships students