The elapsed time taken to earn a Ph.D. in economics is analyzed with data from 618 1996-97 Ph.D.s. A duration model indicates that students supported by fellowships, and those holding a prior masters degree finish faster. Americans, those who take jobs before completing their degree, and those...

This paper describes the characteristics and labor market experiences of new agricultural and natural resource (ANR) economics Ph.D.s, based on surveys of graduates in 1996-97 and 2001-02. An average of 185 new Ph.D.s in ANR economics were awarded in each of these years. Among these, an average...

We report early career outcomes of economics Ph.D.s by tracking the U.S. class of 1996-97. We examine employment outcomes, work activities, salaries, and graduates' attitudes toward their jobs. By 2003, all of the respondents were employed, although almost half changed employers during the six...

Information about 586 individuals who matriculated into 27 economics Ph.D. programs in Fall 2002 is used to estimate first and second year attrition rates. After two years, 26.5 percent of the initial cohort had left, equally divided between the first and second years. Attrition varies widely...

We document the types of undergraduate colleges and universities attended by those who earned a doctorate in economics from an American university from 1966 through 2003 and examine relationships between type of undergraduate institution and attrition and time-to-degree in Ph.D. programs. The...

This paper reports results from a survey of the labor market experience of the 2001-02 class of Ph.D. economists. We estimate that 850 economics Ph.D.s were awarded by U.S. universities in 2001-02, down about 100 from five years earlier. Of these, 28 percent were women, and 37 percent U.S....

Using a sample of 26 U.S. economics Ph.D. programs in Fall 2003, we estimate that only about 12 percent of the U.S. and Canadian students accepted for doctoral study did not enroll in any U.S. economics Ph.D. program in Fall 2003 or Fall 2004. It is not possible to increase the supply of new...