Between the penthouse and the outhouse: the sorting of economics professors

Abstract

Oyer (2007, 2008) considered the turnover of economics professors early in their careers. He found professors are more likely to move down from higher ranked schools than up from lower ranked schools. An asymmetric information model suggests this phenomenon is explained by imperfect screening at one's initial hiring. The smaller the fraction of more able individuals, and the more accurate the screening, the greater the chance downward movement exceeds upward movement.