Generally, when it comes to PhDs I always tell people that a major consideration is choosing between a UK/EU 3-year PhD and a US 5-year degree. A 3-year PhD, especially in economics, might make more sense if one is uncertain about going into academia.
In retrospect, I personally found a major benefit of doing a PhD was that it was a good way for me to catch-up to more high-achieving peers’ who went better schools / universities because I felt a bit behind after my three year undergraduate degree in a non-quantitative subject.
Caveat to your first point: 3 years/5 years is probably understated
I think the UK “3 year degree” presumes one comes in with a strong masters’s degree (which are rare in the UK unless they are an MRes, which is 2 years IIRC. And they often last a bit longer than 3 years anyways, with extensions.
In the US five years would be on the quick side. If you come in with a strong masters degree and a clear idea of your research, and you are fully funded (so not a lot of teaching or RA work) you could do it in 5 or even 4.5. But I guess the median is more like 5.5-6 years. It took me 7 (but I came in without a master’s, I switched topics and advisors, I had funding issues and took a break to do some part time consulting).
Generally (not specific to econ), I would think of it as 3-4 vs 5-7. So it is a real difference, although less so if (as it sometimes does) the UK plan requires an additional (1-2yr) masters degree.
Generally, when it comes to PhDs I always tell people that a major consideration is choosing between a UK/EU 3-year PhD and a US 5-year degree. A 3-year PhD, especially in economics, might make more sense if one is uncertain about going into academia.
In retrospect, I personally found a major benefit of doing a PhD was that it was a good way for me to catch-up to more high-achieving peers’ who went better schools / universities because I felt a bit behind after my three year undergraduate degree in a non-quantitative subject.
There’s a new paper out showing large returns to majoring in economics—perhaps applicable: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20200447
Caveat to your first point: 3 years/5 years is probably understated
I think the UK “3 year degree” presumes one comes in with a strong masters’s degree (which are rare in the UK unless they are an MRes, which is 2 years IIRC. And they often last a bit longer than 3 years anyways, with extensions.
In the US five years would be on the quick side. If you come in with a strong masters degree and a clear idea of your research, and you are fully funded (so not a lot of teaching or RA work) you could do it in 5 or even 4.5. But I guess the median is more like 5.5-6 years. It took me 7 (but I came in without a master’s, I switched topics and advisors, I had funding issues and took a break to do some part time consulting).
Generally (not specific to econ), I would think of it as 3-4 vs 5-7. So it is a real difference, although less so if (as it sometimes does) the UK plan requires an additional (1-2yr) masters degree.
UK students who want to get “top econ jobs” often try to do a postdoc after their PhD, maybe especially to polish up their research further