The determinants of election to the Presidency of the American Economic Association: Evidence from a cohort of distinguished 1950's economists

摘要

Data have been collected on 55 members of the AEA Executive Committees for the years 1950-1960 (inclusive) on a variety of variables that measure the merit and non-merit characteristics of the economists. A logit is estimated in which the dependent variable is a dummy variable for whether an Executive Committee member was ever elected President of the American Economic Association (AEA). The number of publications and citations are important determinants of election. Receiving a PhD from one of the top three schools does not help and living in the South does not hurt. Economists who were older in 1956 were more likely to have eventually been elected to the AEA Presidency.