r/academiceconomics

In academics, there seems to be a cycle of getting treated badly by your advisor and then continuing that legacy by treating the RA you hired even more badly. I am sick of how condescending, mean, ill - behaved some of these supervisors are. Fuck you guys honestly. You guys deter us instead of encouraging us to learn and do good research in economics. You say you want to help us learn yet it seems like you only care whether YOUR project is progressing instead of ALSO helping us prepare for next steps.

Since EJMR disappeared, I’ve noticed it’s become surprisingly hard to find candid discussion of economics journals online. Obviously there was plenty about EJMR that nobody misses, but it did have a huge archive of people talking about how journals are actually perceived, which field journals are good, where people submit after a rejection, and how different placements are viewed for hiring and tenure.

I thought it might be useful to have a thread here for that kind of discussion, especially since old threads can show up when people Google a particular journal later.

A few things I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on:

• How do you think about journal tiers once you get outside the Top 5?
• What are the strongest field journals in your area?
• Are there journals whose reputation is much better or worse than their metrics suggest?
• Have any journals noticeably risen or fallen in reputation recently?
• How do you view journals like JUE, JHE, JPubE, JHR, JDE, JLE, JRS, RSUE, Economic Inquiry, SEJ, CEP, EER, CJE, etc.?
• What does a realistic submission ladder look like in your field?
• What journals do you think are underrated or overrated?
• What journal ranking system do you abide by? ABDC? CL? ABS?

I’d also be curious how much this differs by institution. My impression is that the way journals are viewed at a top research department can be pretty different from how they’re viewed at an R2, liberal arts college, or business school.

Mostly I’m interested in the kind of stuff you normally only learn by asking senior people in your field: “X and Y are basically peers,” “X is harder to publish in than its ranking suggests,” “we’d consider Y a very good tenure publication,” etc.

Feel free to ask about specific journals in the comments too. It would be nice if this turned into a thread people could actually find later when trying to decide where to submit.

Estou cursando economia na puc Rio e gostaria de perguntar especialmente sobre os núcleos da faculdade (Gama, alfa, econdata e nea), a liga de mercado financeiro sei q é mt importante para o currículo, no entanto a faculdade recomenda q os alunos entram no núcleo q é uma suposta liga, q vai ser tão bom pra mim quanto a liga só q o núcleo por ser dos alunos eles se preocupam c datas de provas por exemplo… gostaria de saber se realmente os núcleos são bons como dizem lá

Should I go for economics at university level I had commerce without maths ( indian btw ) barely passed stats for eco aced macro BST and Barely passed accounts 😭 there unis offering economics on merit baises I love economics but hate maths helppp

Hi y'all! I plan on applying for a Master's in Economics (both APE and PPD) for the year 2027-28 and would really appreciate any advice.

My background: I'm a ug student, studying Econ in a t5 institute in India. My GPA is 8.6/10 and I am looking to publish a paper in behavioural econ by the end of this year. I've gotten AA's and AB's (9-10/10) in nearly all Econ courses, the major concern is 3 C's is some first year (common) courses. Apart from this, I have done an internship in finance and some projects related to coursework. Also, I'm working on some independent articles related to current events and their economic impact.

Some questions I'd really appreciate guidance on:

1. Do I have realistic chances of getting into PSE for a masters?
2. Are there some things I can do at this point to improve my profile? Any particular aspect I can focus on like a research project under a prof?
3. Will the GPA or a couple of poor grades be a dealbreaker?
4. Are there any other programs/unis I should target? My backup is Indian Statistical Institute

I studied economics for my bachelor’s, with a minor in business, at a top university in the Middle East.

After graduating, I spent around four years working in strategy and management consulting at a tier 1 firm in the Gulf. I learned a lot, but after thinking seriously about where I want my career to go, I realized I did not want to remain a generalist forever, constantly moving between industries and topics.

I decided to leave consulting and go back to economics by pursuing a master’s degree at a top university.

My question is: am I crazy for giving up the career prospects I had in consulting? Has anyone here made a similar transition?

I have a general idea of where I want to end up. I am interested in economic advisory and applied economics, but I am still unsure about doing a PhD. I do not see myself becoming a full time academic or professor. Ideally, I could see myself working in an economics related role in industry or advisory, while possibly teaching or lecturing on the side later in my career.

I am 25, so I know I still have time to figure things out, but I would really appreciate hearing from people who have taken a similar path or have experience in economics careers. I would especially value advice on whether this transition makes sense and what paths I should be considering from here.

Constant crashes and terrible resources to my fellow macroeconometricians, do you also find EViews horrendous in comparison to the likes of R and Stata, or am I missing something?

Hi all, I’m a senior at a T40 school planning to apply to predocs this fall with the intention of pursuing a PhD in economics.

I’m currently deciding whether to take the first-year PhD micro sequence. The math major would only require two additional classes compared to the minor. I’d really prefer to finish with the math major since the marginal effort seems relatively small and I could take classes that are more applicable to my applied subfield. I’ve also already completed the main recommended math courses for an econ PhD (e.g. proof-based linear algebra, intro analysis, probability theory), and I’ve gotten an A/A+ in every math class I’ve taken, going back to beginning calculus. On the other hand I got an A and B+ in the two intermediate micro sequence classes (health issues, tough curves, less work ethic in my early college years).

The issue is that I have the opportunity to take the first-year PhD micro sequence, but I know it would be a very, very large time commitment. I’d also be taking other classes including two second-year PhD electives, co-authoring a paper, working on my own research, and applying to predocs. I also have some health issues coming up that I am worried about exacerbating.

I’m worried about:

1. The toll the sequence could take on my mental/physical health
2. Balancing it with the two additional classes for the math major
3. Not getting an A/A-, especially since I understand only a relatively small fraction of first-year PhD students get As here
4. Potentially sacrificing my math grades in pursuit of the sequence

So: is the first-year micro sequence a big enough opportunity that I should seriously consider forsaking the math major for it? Or should I try to juggle both?

More generally, what is the opportunity cost of not taking graduate micro? Would not having it on my transcript be a meaningful disadvantage for predoc applications/PhD admissions given that I already have fairly strong math preparation?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have evaluated predoc applicants or been involved in PhD admissions. I’m trying to figure out whether this is genuinely an opportunity worth stretching myself for, or whether I’m overestimating its importance simply because it’s "PhD-level" coursework.

So I’m in a spot where I have had a couple of years of research experience with a professor at my uni (T20) and am co-authoring a macro paper with him (we have a working paper ready).

I have a couple other professors who I have taken advanced classes with that can write strong letters for me as well (PhD micro and my honors thesis seminar).

Given this, I am not sure that a predoc would help my application all that much (unless I’m with Chetty or something).

What exactly is the value-add (with regard to admissions) of a predoc in my case? Is it significant enough to forgo applying to phds at all for this year? I’m sure it’s hard to say without knowing my profile but any guidance is helpful.

I’m applying to Economics PhD programs this cycle and have run into a problem: the schools that fit my research interests best are disproportionately very highly ranked.
I’ve worked as an RA for 2.5+ years and have developed fairly specific interests in IO, networks, and transportation, particularly research combining those areas.

When I look for departments with several faculty members who could realistically advise that kind of work, I end up with a very top-heavy application list. I can obviously add lower-ranked programs, but the fit often becomes much weaker.

I’m also struggling to judge how competitive my own profile is because my academic record is unusual. My undergraduate and Honours degrees are separate degrees. My undergraduate degree was not pure economics and my performance was relatively weak. After being hired as an RA, I completed a separate Economics Honours degree that is effectively the first year of graduate economics training in my system. I took eight graduate-level economics courses, including PhD Microeconomics, and received A-range grades in all eight.
My academic performance therefore improved very sharply at around the same time that I began doing research and moved into graduate-level economics.

I’m unsure how admissions committees will weigh the weaker undergraduate record against the much stronger and more recent graduate economics record.
That makes it difficult for me to tell whether my application list is appropriately ambitious given my profile, or just wildly unrealistic.
I know interests can evolve during a PhD, and I’m realistic about how unpredictable admissions are. I’m therefore wondering how others would balance:

strong research fit + very low admissions probability, versus weaker fit + a more diversified application list.

At what point would you compromise on research fit for the sake of having a more balanced list? And how would you evaluate an applicant whose earlier undergraduate record is substantially weaker than a later, separate year of strong graduate economics coursework including a strong honours thesis?

Hello everyone,

Very recently I've begun to wonder if there is a future for me in economics academia. I have been thinking no and adjusting until I got my diagnosis for Autism and ADHD.

My Math and Econometrics grades are the following: Calc I, II: A; Calc III: B, Linear Algebra (Proof Based): C+, Intro Prob: C-, Upper Div Econometrics (hardest class offered by department for undergrads): B+, IO B+, Intermediate Macro: B+, Mathematical Microeconomics (More difficult version of Intermediate Micro): B, Intro Econometrics: B-, Economics of India: A, and Money and Banking: C+ . My 2 Calculus classes were taken at Georgia State University and the rest at University of Virginia.

I have 3 years of research experience at varying levels of involvement: 2 years as a legal research assistant under someone at the Law School, another 2 months under someone else at the Law School, and 1 year under someone at the Economics department who is a Dev Economist.

As you can see, these grades are definitely to ride home about, and it is worth noting that I had not had any formal diagnosis for my autism and ADHD since like maybe not even 3 weeks, so I went through these classes without accommodations.

If I were to go down this path, I would be looking to study Macroeconomics, IO, or Metrics with a goal of working policy and being able to tie in Law into my research. and am looking to hopefully attend a school like UVA, Brown, UPenn, or Northwestern to name a few for my PhD domestically, and institutions like UCL, LSE, OxBridge, Warwick, NUS and NTU,.

Would love to hear some opinions on what my outlook is. My backup/another path that I am quite happy with is to go to Law School and get an MPP be that a JD/MPP or separately.

Edit: no GRE scores as of now and currently looking for a predoc/think tank research position.

Hi, I am a rising junior and I'm looking for a CAPSTONE project to do as part of my college application. My area of interest include Applied Math and Economics. Any suggestions would be great, looking for any type of advice on activities to do outside of this aswell from any alumni or current attending students at the top 20 schools in the US for my areas of interest.

I'd like to understand more about the use cases for log regression vs regular. How do you know which to use?

Also, are there any other common mathematical operations that are commonly used in transforming regression datasets? Any books you'd recommend on the subject?

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone can shed a little light/advice/insight into Economic Consulting, and if I should pursue a PhD to get into top positions in the field, or if a MA will suffice?

I understand that a PhD is a huge loss in potential earnings during a 4-5 year period, but I also worry that if I don't get a PhD (did not do my Bachelor's or MA at a top 20) I wouldn't be able to get into the highest paid positions/there will be a serious ceiling I would reach? I just don't want to get to 45 and realize I should have done a PhD (as knowing me I would not go back and get one at that age), but with so many people getting MBA's and joining these jobs with just a Bachelor's/MA, I worry I'd be making a stupid financial decision, but if I don't get the PhD, I'd be making a stupid career decision?

Any insight/knowledge from people's experiences would be great!!

Heya, I'm an incoming econ undergrad freshman looking for advice on general do's and don'ts in college that will make my life a lot easier! My course is pretty math and coding heavy as well, so any advice on math and coding is also welcome!

Tysm in advance!!