Graduate Economics Teaching of Core Microeconomics: Diversity, Knowledge Clusters, Job Placement

Abstract

We study what is taught in core microeconomics courses at top US econ doctoral programs. We build a detailed concept map containing more than 1300 concepts, fitting under more than 100 broader topics. We find evidence of substantial diversity. Most programs cover less than 50% of the universe of concepts covered over all programs. And most pairs of programs share less than 50% overlap in concept coverage. We use a cluster algorithm and find that the programs cluster into two main clusters that are intuitive and support the idea of schools of thought. We also study job placement flows from the programs to the other programs. Our empirical results indicate that a job candidate who places at one of the other programs is more likely to place at a program that is conceptually close to his own program. This results even when we include controls for program rankings and geographic proximity.