Rise of the Kniesians: the professor-student network of Nobel laureates in economics

Abstract

The paper presents the professor-student network of Nobel laureates in economics. 82 of the 87 Nobelists belong to one family tree. The remaining five belong to three separate trees. There are 376 men in the graph, and five women. Karl Knies is the central-most professor, followed by Wassily Leontief. No classical and few neo-classical economists have left notable descendants. Harvard is the centralmost university, followed by Chicago and Berlin. Most candidates for the Nobel Prize belong to the main family tree, but new trees may arise for the students of Terence Gorman and Denis Sargan.