@ct_bergstrom I wonder if there's any evidence of increased risk taking on the part of researchers in fields where the cost of a failed high risk proposal or project isn't as high as it might be in other fields? For example, what about MD-PhDs in medical research or academic computer scientists? In both cases, hefty compensation is still available as clinicians or industry researchers, respectively, which would minimize wage risk aversion.
@twitskeptic Interesting concept. One way to think about this would be to look at the distribution of how many papers come out of a PhD dissertation.