{"id":34319,"date":"2015-06-17T09:49:37","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T09:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?post_type=career_profile&#038;p=34319"},"modified":"2024-12-19T17:47:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T17:47:15","slug":"economics-phd","status":"publish","type":"career_profile","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/economics-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Economics&nbsp;PhDs"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":75330,"parent":0,"menu_order":7,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"**Sources**\r\n<p>[fn 1] [See our wiki.](http:\/\/wiki.80000hours.org\/index.php\/Economics_PhD#What_is_this_career_path.3F) [\/fn]<\/p>\r\n<p>[fn 2] [GRE Guide Table 1a](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615184826\/https:\/\/www.ets.org\/s\/gre\/pdf\/gre_guide_table1a.pdf) and [A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185007\/http:\/\/www.econ.ucsb.edu\/~startz\/A%20Guide%20for%20UCSB%20Undergraduates%20Considering%20a%20PhD%20in%20Economics.pdf) [\/fn]<\/p>\r\n<p>[fn 3] \"An overall GPA of at least 3.5 is a prerequisite. It is not uncommon to see an almost perfect GPA among top candidates.\" [Tips on Applying to Top Graduate Programs in Economics](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185146\/http:\/\/economics.ucsd.edu\/economicsinaction\/issue-3\/tips-on-applying.php)[\/fn]<\/p>\r\n<p>[fn 4]<br \/>\r\n[National Science Foundation. Table 4-1. Unemployment rate among doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate: 2013](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185456\/http:\/\/ncsesdata.nsf.gov\/doctoratework\/2013\/html\/SDR2013_DST4_1.html)[\/fn]<\/p>\r\n<p>[fn 5]\"What other profession gives you so much freedom to choose your research topics? Many economists now devote their careers to studying topics which an outsider would classify as political science, psychology, or sociology. Some economists even do work that basically amounts to history or philosophy, though they probably need to work on more conventional topics until they get tenure.\" [Bryan Caplan - Is the Econ Ph.D. a Free Lunch?](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185838\/http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2005\/10\/is_the_econ_phd.html) [\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 6] \"Among the successful job seekers, 62.8 percent found employment in academic institutions as compared to 61.0 percent in the 2013-14 year.\" [Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Arkansas. SURVEY OF THE LABOR MARKET<br \/>\r\nFOR NEW PH.D. HIRES IN ECONOMICS<br \/>\r\n2015-2016](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190102\/http:\/\/cber.uark.edu\/files\/2015-16_New_PhD_Labor_Market_Survey_Report.pdf) See also [National Science Foundation. TABLE 61. Statistical profile of postgraduation plans of doctorate recipients in social sciences fields, by sex and field of study: 2013](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190307\/http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/statistics\/sed\/2013\/data\/tab61.pdf)[\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 7] [National Science Foundation. Table 54. Median annual salaries of full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate and sector of employment: 2013](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190634\/http:\/\/ncsesdata.nsf.gov\/doctoratework\/2013\/html\/SDR2013_DST54.html) [\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 8] [The American Economic Association Graduate Study in Economics Web Pages](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190948\/https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/gradstudents\/index.php) and [Tips for Applying to PhD Programs in Economics](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190905\/http:\/\/faculty.oxy.edu\/sslavov\/grad.htm) [\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 9] In 2013 Economics PhDs had the highest median starting salaries of all science doctorates in government ($137,000), nonprofits ($135,000), and for-profit private companies ($148,000). [National Science Foundation. Table 54. Median annual salaries of full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate and sector of employment: 2013](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615190634\/http:\/\/ncsesdata.nsf.gov\/doctoratework\/2013\/html\/SDR2013_DST54.html) [\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 10] \"Economists rarely influence policy as advisors for people who haven't made up their minds and want advice. Instead, people who favor a certain position generally seek policy advisors who they will expect will provide arguments favoring their position. So economists, and other policy advisors, often have influence mainly by providing ammunition for advocates of the views they support. There is more room for influence if you provide policy recommendations that are orthogonal to popular disputes.\" [The value of economics PhDs: A conversation with Robin Hanson](https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2013\/10\/the-value-of-economics-phds-a-conversation-with-robin-hanson\/)[\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 11]\"...many econ PhDs teach college level courses while conducting very little research.\" [A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185007\/http:\/\/www.econ.ucsb.edu\/~startz\/A%20Guide%20for%20UCSB%20Undergraduates%20Considering%20a%20PhD%20in%20Economics.pdf) [\/fn]<br \/>\r\n[fn 12][A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150615185007\/http:\/\/www.econ.ucsb.edu\/~startz\/A%20Guide%20for%20UCSB%20Undergraduates%20Considering%20a%20PhD%20in%20Economics.pdf)[\/fn]<\/p>\r\n"},"categories":[383,342,375,412,24],"class_list":["post-34319","career_profile","type-career_profile","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-research","category-careers","category-economics-phd","category-founder-of-new-projects","category-in-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why an economics PhD might be the best grad degree - 80,000 Hours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An econ PhD is one of the most attractive graduate programs: if you get through, you have a high chance of landing a good research job in academia or...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/economics-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why an economics PhD might be the best grad degree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An economics PhD is one of the most attractive graduate programs: if you get through, you have a high chance of landing a good research job in academia or policy - promising areas for social impact - and you have back-up options in the corporate sector since the skills you learn are in-demand (unlike many PhD programs). 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