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Evaluating Professor Value-added: Evidence from Professor and Student Matching in Physics

Author

Listed:
  • Yuta Kikuchi

    (GISS, Yokohama National University)

  • Ryo Nakajima

    (Faculty of Economics, Keio University)

Abstract

This paper estimates a professor's value added to a postgraduate student's research achievement growth using unique panel data on matched advisor-advisee pairs in a world-leading physics graduate program. To address an identification problem related to the endogenous selection of advisors and advisees, we use professor turnover and estimate a semi-parametric lower bound of the variance in advisor quality affecting advisee research performance. We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in professor quality results in a 0.54 standard deviation increase in a doctoral student's research achievement growth, increasing the number of first-authored papers that are published in top journals by 0.64 at the doctoral level.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuta Kikuchi & Ryo Nakajima, 2016. "Evaluating Professor Value-added: Evidence from Professor and Student Matching in Physics," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2016-002, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    • Handle: RePEc:keo:dpaper:2016-002
    as

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    File URL: http://ies.keio.ac.jp/upload/pdf/en/DP2016-002.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard K. Crump & V. Joseph Hotz & Guido W. Imbens & Oscar A. Mitnik, 2009. "Dealing with limited overlap in estimation of average treatment effects," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 96(1), pages 187-199.
    2. 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.
    3. Steven G. Rivkin & Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain, 2005. "Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(2), pages 417-458, March.
    4. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders in the Theory of Growth," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(1), pages 43-61.
    5. Manuel Trajtenberg & Gil Shiff & Ran Melamed, 2009. "The "Names Game": Harnessing Inventors, Patent Data for Economic Research," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 93-94, pages 67-77.
    6. Florian Hoffmann & Philip Oreopoulos, 2009. "Professor Qualities and Student Achievement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 83-92, February.
    7. Guido Imbens, 2014. "Matching Methods in Practice: Three Examples," NBER Working Papers 19959, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881, December.
    9. Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2012. "The Distribution of Teacher Quality and Implications for Policy," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 131-157, July.
    10. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    knowledge creation; postgraduate education; faculty quality; research apprenticeship;

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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