The Research Productivity of New PhDs in Economics: The Surprisingly High Non-Success of the Successful

摘要

Economics PhD programs are primarily designed to produce research economists. There is little or no focus on training students to suit the needs of business or industry (Siegfried and Stock 1999). Our experience suggests that most students, especially at the better programs, enter graduate school planning to seek academic jobs, or at any rate, jobs that require research. We would also argue that students have a more-or-less common preference ordering over departments. In general, a student admitted to MIT or Princeton is unlikely to choose to go to Duke or Ohio State instead. Thus, the top programs have first pick over applicants to graduate programs in any given year, and this should concentrate both quantity and scholarly ambition in a strongly top-heavy way in programs specifically designed to train researchers.