The author of this article summarizes which, when, where, and how students take introductory economics. Among students who began college in 2012, 74 percent never took economics, up from 62 percent ...in 2004. Fifteen percent of beginning college students in 2012 took some economics, and 12 percent were one-and-done students. About half of introductory economics students never took another economics class, and only about 2 percent majored in economics. The characteristics of one-and-done and some economics students are generally similar and closer to one another than to students with no economics. The implication is that efforts to diversify the profession should focus at least in part on attracting students who would otherwise not take introductory economics.
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Although economics' share of Bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States has been flat for over a decade, its share of second majors is growing. This paper documents trends and correlations in ...disciplines' shares of first and second majors for Bachelor's degrees conferred in the United States during 2001-2014. First majors in math, engineering, computer science, and technology and in the life and medical sciences (now the modal major among female students) are complements to second majors in economics. Encouraging double majoring in economics among students in these disciplines could grow and diversify the economics discipline while also benefiting graduates.
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What do we know about how well graduate teaching in economics addresses cognitive challenges to learning? In short, very little. There is a dearth of research that investigates how graduate student, ...program and professor characteristics, and choices impact graduate student learning and other outcomes. Some of the broader literature on graduate education in economics includes findings that can be linked to Chew and Cerbin's cognitive challenges to provide suggestive evidence, but many open research questions remain. Research is needed to understand whether improvements like clear communication, clear requirements and expectations, better advising, and adopting a learning-driven approach to graduate courses would mitigate cognitive challenges to learning and improve graduate education in economics.
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Although paid family leave (PFL) has the potential to improve labor market and other outcomes for mothers, there is also concern that PFL might also lead to discrimination against women of ...childbearing age. We examine the impact of California's paid family leave law (CA‐PFL) on labor market outcomes over time during the post‐law decade, as well as the law's effect for groups with differing levels of education. Results indicate that the law had negligible impacts on young women's labor force participation, unemployment duration, and earnings, but persistent small negative impacts on their relative employment. The negative employment impacts are concentrated among college‐educated women, for whom the law is associated with a 2–3 percentage point decrease in labor force participation and a 1–2 percentage point decline in employment. The CA‐PFL does not appear to have impacted the relative labor force participation, employment, unemployment duration, or earnings of less‐educated young females.
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We exploit differences in state special education funding systems based on special education enrollment ('bounty systems') or on total student enrollment ('census systems') to assess whether funding ...systems impact teacher turnover, teacher specialty, special education enrollment, state education spending, average class sizes, and teacher effort. We find that census funding decreases special education enrollment and increases turnover among special education teachers. Relative to their counterparts, special education teachers are 5 percentage points more likely to move across schools and 18 percentage points more likely to switch to general education teaching after the implementation of census funding in their state.
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Dissertations in economics have changed dramatically over the past forty years, from primarily treatise-length books to sets of essays on related topics. We document trends in essay-style ...dissertations across several metrics, using data on dissertation format, PhD program characteristics, demographics, job market outcomes, and early career research productivity for two large samples of US PhDs graduating in 1996-1997 or 2001-2002. Students at higher ranked PhD programs, citizens outside the United States, and microeconomics students have been at the forefront of this trend. Economics PhD graduates who take jobs as academics are more likely to have written essay-style dissertations, while those who take government jobs are more likely to have written a treatise. Finally, most of the evidence suggests that essay-style dissertations enhance economists' early career research productivity. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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Through their influence on insurance and relative leave length, maternity leave laws can alter the incentives to choose cesarean delivery. We use a difference-in-difference approach to estimate the ...impact of state-level maternity leave laws on cesarean delivery. Empirical results suggest that maternity leave laws guaranteeing relatively short leaves are associated with reduced probability of cesarean delivery. Laws that guarantee continued insurance coverage during the leave are associated with an increase in the probability of cesarean delivery among insured women.
The authors update prior analyses of the undergraduate origins of individuals who earn a PhD in economics in the United States. They include the list of the top institutions worldwide graduating the ...largest number of undergraduates who subsequently earn an economics PhD from a U.S. university and lists of American institutions with the largest proportion of their total undergraduates and the largest proportion of their economics undergraduates who go on to earn an economics PhD from a U.S. university. They evaluate the success of graduates from various types of undergraduate institutions in terms of the probability of getting into top-15 economics PhD programs and for time-to-degree and success in completing PhD programs.
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In this article, the authors summarize their 15 years of research on graduate education in economics in the United States. They examine all stages of the process, from the undergraduate origins of ...eventual economics PhDs to their attrition and time-to-degree outcomes. For PhD completers, the authors examine job market outcomes, research accomplishments, and career paths over the first five and 10 years of their careers.
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