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...

We test whether U.S. colleges and universities adjust their physical capital intensity to differences in factor prices by regressing the square feet of space per student on construction prices across institutions. The results indicate that physical space at selective liberal arts colleges and...

This essay describes methodological approaches and pitfalls common to studies of the economic impact of colleges and universities. Such studies often claim local benefits that imply annualized rates of return on local investment exceeding 100 percent. We address problems in these studies...

Simon Rottenberg long ago noted that the nature of sports is such that competitors must be of approximately equal ability if any are to be financially successful. In recent years, sports commentators and fans, Major League Baseball itself, and even some economists have expressed growing concern...

Membership and conference attendance trends of regional economics associations are reported and analyzed. Although membership and conference attendance grow steadily at the American Economic Association, both are stagnant for the regional associations. Membership elasticity for economics...

Random effects estimates using panel data for 42 colleges and universities over 16 years reveal that the economics faculty size of universities offering a Ph.D. in economics is determined primarily by the long-run average number of Ph.D. degrees awarded annually; the number of full-time faculty...

We investigate which of the students who entered economics Ph.D. programs in fall 2002 were more likely to earn a Ph.D. within five years, and which were more likely to have dropped out. Students enrolled in Top-15 ranked programs are less likely to have dropped out, but no more likely than...

America's adult population is economically illiterate. College economics instruction must shoulder some of the blame for this situation. Forty percent of all college graduates take an economics course. Over 95 percent of principles of economics students do not continue on to major in economics,...