I’m a 3rd year undergraduate double majoring in electrical engineering and economics at University of California Davis. I have a 3.7 University of California Davis GPA. After looking through EA articles, I’ve decided to get a PhD in economics after graduation so I can be a development economist for an influential think tank or global development organization. I do need to continue living in the United States, although plenty of travel is fine.
Is there any preparation I should be doing for a career in development economics without going into academia beyond the standard career advice for getting into an economics PhD program?
What are some good schools for development economics?
Hi Sonia, this was a path I previously considered. Hopefully someone else with actual experience will chime in. In the meantime, here’s some armchair thoughts in no particular order.
If you haven’t already, check out Chris Blattman’s blog: https://​​chrisblattman.com/​​ He’s a professor at UChicago who posted a lot on academia, policy, and economics. Highly recommend the articles linked on the sidebar.
If you’re targeting a PhD, your school’s ranking probably trumps everything else. And rankings tend to be consistent across sub-disciplines. There are some outliers—I believe there’s a University of California school that’s high up in agricultural economics—but generally speaking, the top 10 are always going to be Ivy Leagues.
You could try to aim for a specific advisor (Esther Duflo at MIT, or Dani Rodrik at Harvard), but I’m not sure how much control you have over that.
For networking purposes, you might find studying in DC/​NYC/​Boston helpful. Most US IDev jobs are in these three places (Boston is much smaller in presence, but it’s also growing b/​c of J-PAL). The faculty in these locations may have more IDev connections. Plus you can pop into a think tank event on occasion
I’d only use this as a tiebreaker though. A top 20 school in the middle of nowhere is probably better for your career than a rank 50-80 school in DC. (Assuming you’re pursuing a PhD, and a research-oriented path)
I’m a 3rd year undergraduate double majoring in electrical engineering and economics at University of California Davis. I have a 3.7 University of California Davis GPA. After looking through EA articles, I’ve decided to get a PhD in economics after graduation so I can be a development economist for an influential think tank or global development organization. I do need to continue living in the United States, although plenty of travel is fine.
Is there any preparation I should be doing for a career in development economics without going into academia beyond the standard career advice for getting into an economics PhD program?
What are some good schools for development economics?
Hi Sonia, this was a path I previously considered. Hopefully someone else with actual experience will chime in. In the meantime, here’s some armchair thoughts in no particular order.
If you haven’t already, check out Chris Blattman’s blog: https://​​chrisblattman.com/​​ He’s a professor at UChicago who posted a lot on academia, policy, and economics. Highly recommend the articles linked on the sidebar.
If you’re targeting a PhD, your school’s ranking probably trumps everything else. And rankings tend to be consistent across sub-disciplines. There are some outliers—I believe there’s a University of California school that’s high up in agricultural economics—but generally speaking, the top 10 are always going to be Ivy Leagues.
You could try to aim for a specific advisor (Esther Duflo at MIT, or Dani Rodrik at Harvard), but I’m not sure how much control you have over that.
For networking purposes, you might find studying in DC/​NYC/​Boston helpful. Most US IDev jobs are in these three places (Boston is much smaller in presence, but it’s also growing b/​c of J-PAL). The faculty in these locations may have more IDev connections. Plus you can pop into a think tank event on occasion
I’d only use this as a tiebreaker though. A top 20 school in the middle of nowhere is probably better for your career than a rank 50-80 school in DC. (Assuming you’re pursuing a PhD, and a research-oriented path)