The path to an economics PhD

We examine the pre-graduate school characteristics of PhD candidates graduating from the top 50 American economics programs. Among candidates from American undergraduate institutions, we find that those who are male, have undergraduate honors, hold an undergraduate major or minor in math and come from highly ranked undergraduate institutions are more likely to graduate from from highly ranked PhD programs. They are more likely to have research assistant experience and less likely to have a graduate degree between completing their undergraduate studies and beginning their PhD (unlike international candidates). In the top five PhD programs, nearly 60% of Americans entered with post-undergraduate research assistant experience while 10% of Americans and 75% of international students entered with a graduate degree. Finally, American candidates from liberal arts colleges or unranked undergraduate institutions graduate from lower ranked PhD programs than those from national universities, i.e. non-liberal arts, non-regional, ranked universities.