Fast Track or Failure: A Study of the Graduation and Dropout Rates of Ph.D. Students in Economics

van Ours, Jan C.; Ridder, Geert

doi:10.2139/ssrn.281016

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Fast Track or Failure: A Study of the Graduation and Dropout Rates of Ph.D. Students in Economics

28 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2001

See all articles by Jan C. van Ours

Jan C. van Ours

Tilburg University - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Department of Economics

Geert Ridder

University of Southern California

Date Written: August 22, 2001

Abstract

We analyze the production process of Ph.Ds in economics in the Netherlands. Our empirical results are consistent with the incentives that the actors in this process face. Universities succeed in making students who are unlikely to graduate or will need a long time to graduate quit the program. Supervisors who are active researchers have higher graduation and lower dropout rates. This effect is due to the fact that active researchers attract better students. There is no evidence of an independent effect of having a supervisor who is an active researcher.

Keywords: Duration analysis, education, graduate program

JEL Classification: C41, I21

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

van Ours, Jan C. and Ridder, Geert, Fast Track or Failure: A Study of the Graduation and Dropout Rates of Ph.D. Students in Economics (August 22, 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=281016 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.281016