The undergraduate origins of PhD economists revisited

Abstract

The authors update prior analyses of the undergraduate origins of individuals who earn a PhD in economics in the United States. They include the list of the top institutions worldwide graduating the largest number of undergraduates who subsequently earn an economics PhD from a U.S. university and lists of American institutions with the largest proportion of their total undergraduates and the largest proportion of their economics undergraduates who go on to earn an economics PhD from a U.S. university. They evaluate the success of graduates from various types of undergraduate institutions in terms of the probability of getting into top-15 economics PhD programs and for time-to-degree and success in completing PhD programs.