The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists
Working Paper No. 06-W11
John J. Siegfried and Wendy A. Stock
ABSTRACT [article]
We document the types of undergraduate colleges and
universities attended by those who earned a doctorate in economics from
an American university from 1966 through 2003 and examine relationships
between type of undergraduate institution and attrition and
time-to-degree in Ph.D. programs. The total number of new economics
Ph.D.s awarded to U.S. citizens has declined precipitously over the past
thirty years. Concurrently, the number of economics doctorates who hold
undergraduate degrees from U.S. universities has fallen by half: from a
high of about 800 in 1972 to about 400 in 2003. Among those who have
earned undergraduate degrees from American institutions, the mix of
schools attended by the doctorates has remained relatively stable, with
about 55 percent of those who earn a Ph.D. in economics each year
holding their bachelors degree from a university that offers a Ph.D. in
economics, and a bit more than 10 percent holding a bachelors degree
from a selective liberal arts college. Currently, 18 of the 25 American
undergraduate institutions that send the largest percentage of their
graduating classes on to earn a Ph.D. in economics are liberal arts
colleges. Graduates of liberal arts colleges also have shorter
time-to-degree and higher verbal GRE scores than other economics Ph.D.
students.
Keywords and Phrases: Ph.D. in economics, undergraduate degree
JEL Classification Number: A22, A23