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Effect of Graduate-Program Rank on Success in the Job Market

Previous research suggests that the ranking of graduate programs plays an important role in the initial job-market success of economics graduates. In surveys done by Carson and Navarro (1988) and Stock, Alston, and Milkman (2000), economics departments reported that school affiliation was at least as important as prior teaching experience when it came to determining which applicants would be scheduled for initial job interviews. In terms of job-market results, Barbezat (1992) and McMillen and Singell (1994) found that candidates from top-ranked programs were more likely to find employment at both another top-ranked academic program and in the nonacademic sector. We investigated job-market results for candidates from different ranked graduate programs using data from a recent survey of job candidates in economics. We followed the basic method used in other studies of the effects of college quality on labor market results (e.g., Brewer, Eide, and Ehrenberg 1996). Specifically, controlling for differences in the demographics, pregraduate school characteristics, and graduate school experiences of candidates, we estimated the effect of program rank on three basic results in the labor market: the number of interviews obtained, whether the candidate received at least one job offer, and, for those who found employment, annual salary. In January 1997, we mailed a survey to 897 job candidates participating in the economics job market in 1995-96.1 We obtained the list of candidates from the packets of curriculum vitas sent from Ph.D.-granting economics departments to Kansas State University, Weber State University, and Murray State University