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Completion Rates and Time-to-Degree in Economics PhD Programs (with comments by David Colander, N. Gregory Mankiw, Melissa P. McInerney, James M. Poterba)

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  • Wendy A. Stock
  • John J. Siegfried
  • T. Aldrich Finegan

Abstract

This paper describes the progress, eight years after matriculating, of 586 individuals who entered one of 27 economics Ph.D. programs in fall 2002. By October 2010, 59 percent of the fall 2002 entering cohort had earned a Ph.D. in economics at the university where they initially matriculated, 37 percent had dropped out, and 4 percent were still writing their dissertations.We examine student outcomes by Ph.D. program tier and investigate factors associated with completion and time to degree. We document and describe the rise in median time to degree from 5.0 to 5.6 years during the period 1996-2010.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy A. Stock & John J. Siegfried & T. Aldrich Finegan, 2011. "Completion Rates and Time-to-Degree in Economics PhD Programs (with comments by David Colander, N. Gregory Mankiw, Melissa P. McInerney, James M. Poterba)," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 176-188, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:101:y:2011:i:3:p:176-88
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeffrey Groen & George Jakubson & Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Scott Condie & Albert Yung-Hsu Liu, 2006. "Program Design and Student Outcomes in Graduate Education," NBER Working Papers 12064, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. John J. Siegfried & Wendy A. Stock, 2001. "So You Want to Earn a Ph.D. in Economics?: How Long Do You Think It Will Take?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(2), pages 364-378.
    3. Angrist, Joshua D, 2001. "Estimations of Limited Dependent Variable Models with Dummy Endogenous Regressors: Simple Strategies for Empirical Practice," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(1), pages 2-16, January.
    4. David Colander, 2005. "The Making of an Economist Redux," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 175-198, Winter.
    5. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Panagiotis G. Mavros, 1995. "Do Doctoral Students' Financial Support Patterns Affect Their Times-To-Degree and Completion Probabilities?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(3), pages 581-609.
    6. Stock, Wendy A & Siegfried, John J, 2001. "So You Want to Earn a Ph.D. in Economics: How Much Do You Think You'll Make?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 320-335, April.
    7. Angrist, Joshua D, 2001. "Estimations of Limited Dependent Variable Models with Dummy Endogenous Regressors: Simple Strategies for Empirical Practice: Reply," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(1), pages 27-28, January.
    8. Imbens, Guido W, 2001. "Estimations of Limited Dependent Variable Models with Dummy Endogenous Regressors: Simple Strategies for Empirical Practice: Comment," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(1), pages 17-20, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hale, Galina & Regev, Tali, 2014. "Gender ratios at top PhD programs in economics," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 55-70.
    2. Stephen Taylor & James Wakefield, 2023. "Business school doctoral programs and the future of business research," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 48(3), pages 471-494, August.
    3. Michael Boehm & Martin Watzinger, 2012. "The Allocation of Talent over the Business Cycle and its Effect on Sectoral Productivity," CEP Discussion Papers dp1143, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. John P. Conley & Ali Sina Onder, 2014. "The Research Productivity of New PhDs in Economics: The Surprisingly High Non-success of the Successful," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 205-216, Summer.

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