Evaluate the following reasoning (Econ Ph.D.):

[TriEcon]

Originally Posted by IvyBoy

3. She believes that a PhD in agricultural economics is more relevant to developing nations (natural resource dependent economies) and gives her a chance to see more immediate results of her research than pure economic research. And this ignites her interest in the field among other things.

I disagree, but not completely, on this point. Ag econ is certainly relevant to developing nations, but not necessarily "more" relevant. It leaves out important areas of research (pure econ???) like trade policy, institutions, cap market liberalization, human capital, social networks, political economics and more.

Ag Econ, however you define that, represents one particular approach to development. If your friend is more interested in the microeconomic, case study approach to development, then this seems the way to go. Otherwise, much of the cutting edge research in development could be absent from her curriculum.

Perhaps a good approach would be to apply to 2 sets of schools: the top 5 ag econ depts and 5 other econ depts that have good faculty in development economics. These sets should intersect at a few points (eg Berkeley, Maryland) and those should be her top choices. See how the admits work out and make a choice.

hope this helps.