Based on the Essential Science Indicators database, this study analyzed 2140 highly cited papers (HCPs) in the field of Economics and Business from 4499 authors, 914 universities, and 64 countries/territories. From this data, three lists were created: the top 76 scientists, 50 most influential universities, and 33 most influential countries/territories.

The results show that the USA is the global leader in Business and Economics with 1517 HCPs, ranking number 1. Also, 46 of the top scientists (60.5%), and 37 of the most influential universities (74%) are from the USA.

This study also found:

• The collaboration network among the top 76 scientists is not very close but a relatively tight sub-network with 13 top scientists has formed.
• All 50 most influential universities are interconnected, and the cooperation between Harvard University and MIT was the strongest, producing 23 HCPs together.
• The collaboration network among the most influential countries is quite close with a large network of 60 nodes and only four isolated nodes.

In addition, this study demonstrates that significant positive correlations exist between authors' HCP and h-index, between universities' HCP and h-index, and between countries' HCP and h-index. Since h-index is known to be a reliable indicator, these correlations indicate that when evaluating the academic impact of scholars, universities, and countries, the HCP approach is also considerably useful.

For more information, see Scientometrics (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2786-7