Ranking Economics Deparments Worldwide

An objective ranking of economics departments worldwide in terms of
graduate education is derived. The central idea is that the value of a
department is the sum of the values of its PhD graduates, as reflected in
the values of their current employing departments. The scores are thus
derived as solutions to a linear system of simultaneous equations in the
values. The sample includes the top fifty-four departments, the
composition of which is determined endogenously using a criterion
requiring a minimum of four placements in the departments comprising
the sample. Two other related rankings are proposed, which place more
emphasis on more recent faculty recruitments. The results point to a very
high concentration in the economics PhD education market worldwide,
confirming the dominance of the top U.S. departments, in particular of
Harvard and M.I.T. Nevertheless, a modest de-concentration trend is
under way. The rankings are in close agreement with the 1994 National
Research Council survey ranking based on the perceived quality of PhD
programs.
Keywords: economics PhD education, scientific evaluation methods,
economics department ranking.