Volume 36, Number 2 (Spring) 2001
Siegfried, John J., and Wendy A. Stock. 2001. "So You Want to Earn a Ph.D. in Economics: How Long Do You Think It Will Take?" Journal of Human Resources 36(2):364-378.
The elapsed time taken to earn a Ph.D. in economics is analyzed with data from 618 1996-1997 Ph.D.s. A duration model indicates that students supported by fellowships, and those holding a prior Master's degree finish faster. Americans, those who take jobs before completing their degree, and those with children take longer. Kids slow the progress of women, but not men. The only difference among fields is more time required for industrial organization and international economics. There is no difference in time-to-degree between men and women, married and single students, older and younger students, and those enrolled in larger or smaller Ph.D. programs.
John J. Siegfried is a professor of economics at Vanderbilt University and Secretary-Treasurer of the American Economic Association. Wendy A. Stock is an associate professor of economics at Montana State University. Support from the National Science Foundation through the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology and from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Project on the Economics of Higher Education at Williams College is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Economic Association, the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, the National Science Foundation, or the Mellon Foundation. Kathryn Anderson, Robert Driskill, Jon Hamilton, W. Lee Hansen, Peter Kennedy, James Ragan, Robert Schwab, and two anonymous referees provided useful comments on an earlier draft. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in 2001 through 2004 from Wendy A. Stock, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-2920.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X