Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide on the Basis of Phd Placement

CORE Discussion Paper No. 2005/51

23 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2006

See all articles by Rabah Amir

Rabah Amir

University of Arizona - Department of Economics; University of Arizona

Malgorzata Knauff

Warsaw School of Economics (SGH)

Date Written: August 2005

Abstract

An objective ranking of economics departments worldwide in terms of graduate education is derived. The central idea is that the value of a department is the sum of the values of its PhD graduates, as reflected in the values of their current employing departments. The scores are thus derived as solutions to a linear system of simultaneous equations in the values. The sample includes the top fifty-four departments, the composition of which is determined endogenously using a criterion requiring a minimum of four placements in the departments comprising the sample. Two other related rankings are proposed, which place more emphasis on more recent faculty recruitments. The results point to a very high concentration in the economics PhD education market worldwide, confirming the dominance of the top U.S. departments, in particular of Harvard and M.I.T. Nevertheless, a modest de-concentration trend is under way. The rankings are in close agreement with the 1994 National Research Council survey ranking based on the perceived quality of PhD programs.

Keywords: economics PhD education, scientific evaluation methods,economics department ranking

JEL Classification: A14, L11, R32

Suggested Citation

Amir, Rabah and Knauff, Malgorzata, Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide on the Basis of Phd Placement (August 2005). CORE Discussion Paper No. 2005/51, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=912243 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.912243

Rabah Amir (Contact Author)

University of Arizona - Department of Economics ( email )

Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

University of Arizona ( email )

Department of History
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

Malgorzata Knauff

Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) ( email )

aleja Niepodleglosci 162
PL-Warsaw, 02-554
Poland