IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jlabre/v34y2013i3p312-338.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Where Do New Ph.D. Economists Go? Recent Evidence from Initial Labor Market

Author

Listed:
  • Jihui Chen
  • Qihong Liu
  • Sherrilyn Billger

Abstract

We collect data on the 2007–2008 Ph.D. economist job market to investigate initial job placement in terms of job location, job type, and job rank. While there is little gender difference in all three dimensions, our results suggest significant source country heterogeneity in placement outcomes. In an analysis linking job location and job type, we find that, among non-U.S. candidates, foreign placements are more likely to be academic relative to U.S. placements. Our analysis contributes to the literature in two aspects: First, compared to existing studies, our sample consists of all job market candidates from 57 top U.S. economics programs and allows us to conduct an analysis more immune to selection bias. Second, with the increasing presence of international students in the U.S. doctoral programs, we examine a new and growing dimension of the labor market – the international perspective of initial job placements for new Ph.D. economists. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Jihui Chen & Qihong Liu & Sherrilyn Billger, 2013. "Where Do New Ph.D. Economists Go? Recent Evidence from Initial Labor Market," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 312-338, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:34:y:2013:i:3:p:312-338
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-013-9162-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s12122-013-9162-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12122-013-9162-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Craig A. Gallet & John A. List & Peter F. Orazem, 2005. "Cyclicality and the Labor Market for Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(2), pages 284-304, October.
    2. Wayne A. Grove & Donald H. Dutkowsky & Andrew Grodner, 2007. "Survive Then Thrive: Determinants Of Success In The Economics Ph.D. Program," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(4), pages 864-871, October.
    3. Moore, William J & Newman, Robert J, 1977. "An Analysis of the Quality Differentials in Male-Female Academic Placements," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(3), pages 413-434, July.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Broder, Ivy E, 1993. "Professional Achievements and Gender Differences among Academic Economists," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(1), pages 116-127, January.
    7. Tom Coupé, 2004. "What Do We Know about Ourselves? on the Economics of Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 197-215, May.
    8. Wendy A. Stock & Richard M. Alston, 2000. "Effect of Graduate-Program Rank on Success in the Job Market," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 389-401, December.
    9. Wayne A. Grove & Stephen Wu, 2007. "The Search for Economics Talent: Doctoral Completion and Research Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 506-511, May.
    10. Alan B. Krueger & Stephen Wu, 2000. "Forecasting Job Placements of Economics Graduate Students," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 81-94, December.
    11. Paul Oyer, 2006. "Initial Labor Market Conditions and Long-Term Outcomes for Economists," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 143-160, Summer.
    12. Craig A. Gallet & John A. List & Peter F. Orazem, 2005. "Cyclicality and the Labor Market for Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(2), pages 284-304, October.
    13. David Neumark & Rosella Gardecki, 1998. "Women Helping Women? Role Model and Mentoring Effects on Female Ph.D. Students in Economics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 220-246.
    14. John M. McDowell & Larry D. Singell Jr. & James P. Ziliak, 2001. "Gender and Promotion in the Economics Profession," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 224-244, January.
    15. Susan Athey & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger & Steven Levitt & James Poterba, 2007. "What Does Performance in Graduate School Predict? Graduate Economics Education and Student Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 512-520, May.
    16. John J. Siegfried & Wendy A. Stock, 1999. "The Labor Market for New Ph.D. Economists," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 115-134, Summer.
    17. John Cawley, 2001. "A Guide (and Advice) for Economists on the U. S. Junior Academic Job Market," Labor and Demography 0109001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Sep 2002.
    18. Larry D. Singell & John M. McDowell & James P. Ziliak, 1999. "Cracks in the Glass Ceiling: Gender and Promotion in the Economics Profession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 392-396, May.
    19. Kalaitzidakis, P. & Mamuneas, T.P. & Stengos, T., 2003. "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions," Working Papers 2003-8, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    20. Wendy A. Stock & John J. Siegfried, 2006. "Time-to-Degree for the Economics Ph.D. Class of 2001-2002," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 467-474, May.
    21. John J. Siegfried & Wendy A. Stock, 2004. "The Market for New Ph. D. Economists in 2002," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 272-285, May.
    22. Pantelis Kalaitzidakis & Theofanis P. Mamuneas & Thanasis Stengos, 2003. "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1346-1366, December.
    23. Buchmueller, Thomas C. & Dominitz, Jeff & Lee Hansen, W., 1999. "Graduate training and the early career productivity of Ph.D. economists," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 65-77, February.
    24. Cawley, John, 2011. "A Guide and Advice for Economists on the U.S. Junior Academic Job Market (2011-2012 Edition)," IZA Discussion Papers 5984, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. Ehrenberg, R.G.Ronald G., 2004. "Econometric studies of higher education," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 19-37.
    26. Donna K. Ginther & Kathy J. Hayes, 2003. "Gender Differences in Salary and Promotion for Faculty in the Humanities 1977–95," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(1).
    27. Shulamit B. Kahn, 1995. "Women in the Economics Profession," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 193-206, Fall.
    28. Christiana Hilmer & Michael Hilmer, 2007. "Women Helping Women, Men Helping Women? Same-Gender Mentoring, Initial Job Placements, and Early Career Publishing Success for Economics PhDs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 422-426, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sam Allgood & Gail Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick, 2018. "The Role of Teaching and Teacher Training in the Hiring and Promotion of Ph.D. Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(3), pages 912-927, January.
    2. Volkov, Nikanor & Chira, Inga & Premti, Arjan, 2016. "Who is successful on the finance Ph.D. job market?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 109-131.
    3. Keith H. Coble, 2020. "Relevant and/or Elegant Economics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 392-399, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jihui Chen & Qihong Liu & Myongjin Kim, 2022. "Gender gap in tenure and promotion: Evidence from the economics Ph.D. class of 2008," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(4), pages 1277-1312, April.
    2. Chen, Jihui Susan & Liu, Qihong & Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2012. "Where Do New Ph.D. Economists Go? Evidence from Recent Initial Job Placements," IZA Discussion Papers 6990, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Qi Ge & Stephen Wu & Chenyu Zhou, 2021. "Sharing common roots: Student‐graduate committee matching and job market outcomes," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(2), pages 828-856, October.
    4. John P. Conley & Ali Sina Önder & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Are all High-Skilled Cohorts Created Equal? Unemployment, Gender, and Research Productivity," Working Papers 2012.86, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    5. John P. Conley & Ali Sina Önder & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Are all High-Skilled Cohorts Created Equal? Unemployment, Gender, and Research Productivity," Working Papers 2012.86, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    6. Ana Rute Cardoso & Paulo Guimarães & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2010. "Comparing the early research performance of PhD graduates in labor economics in Europe and the USA," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(3), pages 621-637, September.
    7. John P. Conley & Ali Sina Önder & Benno Torgler, 2016. "Are all economics graduate cohorts created equal? Gender, job openings, and research productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 937-958, August.
    8. Michael J. Hilmer & Christiana E. Hilmer, 2009. "Fishes, Ponds, And Productivity: Student‐Advisor Matching And Early Career Publishing Success For Economics Phds," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(2), pages 290-303, April.
    9. Wendy A. Stock & John J. Siegfried, 2006. "Where Are They Now? Tracking the Ph.D. Class of 1997," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(2), pages 472-488, October.
    10. Boehm, Michael J. & Watzinger, Martin, 2010. "The Selection of Skills into Sectors: Evidence from the Market for Economists," MPRA Paper 23315, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Boehm, Michael J. & Watzinger, Martin, 2010. "The Allocation of Talent: Evidence from the Market of Economists," MPRA Paper 27463, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Dolado, Juan J & Felgueroso, Florentino & Almunia, Miguel, 2005. "Do Men and Women Economists Choose the Same Research Fields?: Evidence From Top 50 Departments," CEPR Discussion Papers 5421, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Michael E. Rose & Suraj Shekhar, 2021. "Indirect Contacts in Hiring: The Economics Job Market," Working Papers 55, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    14. Craig A. Gallet & John A. List & Peter F. Orazem, 2005. "Cyclicality and the Labor Market for Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(2), pages 284-304, October.
    15. Juan Dolado & Florentino Felgueroso & Miguel Almunia, 2012. "Are men and women-economists evenly distributed across research fields? Some new empirical evidence," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 367-393, September.
    16. Sascha Baghestanian & Sergey V. Popov, 2017. "Alma Mat(t)er(s): Determinants of Early Career Success in Economics," Economics Working Papers 17-02, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast.
    17. Paul Oyer, 2006. "The Macro-Foundations of Microeconomics: Initial Labor Market Conditions and Long-Term Outcomes for Economists," NBER Working Papers 12157, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Hilmer, Michael J. & Hilmer, Christiana E., 2011. "Is it where you go or who you know? On the relationship between students, Ph.D. program quality, dissertation advisor prominence, and early career publishing success," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 991-996, October.
    19. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Friebel, Guido & Weinberger, Alisa & ,, 2021. "Women in Economics: Europe and the World," CEPR Discussion Papers 16686, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Gallet, Craig A. & List, John A. & Orazem, Peter F., 2004. "Cyclicality and the Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 1302, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ph.D. labor market; Job type; Job location; Job rank; A11; A23; J44;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:34:y:2013:i:3:p:312-338. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.