PhDPolEcon Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I am interested in a PhD in Political Economics or Political Economy. I searched the forum and a lot of the information is stale, being dated from 2004 -2009. Perhaps it is time for an update for the benefit of all. Could wise forum members share their knowledge on the various PhD programs in Political Economics or Political Economy. What are the top programs? What are the unique research interests of the various programs? Any comments comparing the programs would be very helpful. I am trying to get a sense of the research approach and philosophy of the various programs. I assume there is a great heterogeneity in the approach of the programs and would like information to help understand these differences. Who are the top professors in this area? What is the profile of the typical admitted student? Any tips for applying to these programs? What do these programs look for in applicants? Should one apply to a dedicated political economy program or apply to an economics or political science program instead. Pros and cons of applying to a dedicated political economy program versus a economics or political science program? Could a public policy PhD be an alternative to a political economy program? I apologize for all the questions, but hopefully the answers would be helpful not just to me but many others lurking on the forum. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pch Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I am interested in a PhD in Political Economics or Political Economy. I searched the forum and a lot of the information is stale, being dated from 2004 -2009. Perhaps it is time for an update for the benefit of all. Could wise forum members share their knowledge on the various PhD programs in Political Economics or Political Economy. What are the top programs? What are the unique research interests of the various programs? Any comments comparing the programs would be very helpful. I am trying to get a sense of the research approach and philosophy of the various programs. I assume there is a great heterogeneity in the approach of the programs and would like information to help understand these differences. Who are the top professors in this area? What is the profile of the typical admitted student? Any tips for applying to these programs? What do these programs look for in applicants? Should one apply to a dedicated political economy program or apply to an economics or political science program instead. Pros and cons of applying to a dedicated political economy program versus a economics or political science program? Could a public policy PhD be an alternative to a political economy program? I apologize for all the questions, but hopefully the answers would be helpful not just to me but many others lurking on the forum. Thank you. Hi there! Unfortunately, I can't offer a full response to your questions but I will try to offer some pieces of information that might hopefully come useful. I am myself interested in PhD programs with a focus in Political Economy. This is a largely interdisciplinary field and you see people mainly from Pol Sci and Econ but also Pub Pol backgrounds doing research in it. Despite being still largely unexploited in research, it seems to be a relatively small econ field. There are a few top programs which have a specific focus on political economy, such as Political Economics at Stanford GSB, PEG at Harvard, or Political Economy at Princeton. I wouldn't want to go on mentioning the top professors because it largely depends on your particular interests. There are people like Guido Tabellini, there is Alberto Alesina, Tim Besley, Francesco Trebbi, Daron Acemoglu, and I could go on but there's no point, because all these people do something different that is broadly coined "Poltical economy". It could be anything starting from economic historians, those concerned with political institutions, political systems, more public policy related issues such as regulation, taxation, corruption, topics going more into the international perspective, those concerned with culture and religion, or those that look into the development related issues, and so on. When it comes to choosing econ, pol sci or pub pol, for me personally the two big points were: 1) what are the job prospects 2) how much do i restrict myself in terms of potential future research by choosing either path. Based on that, I personally crossed out pol sci as I think there are better prospects for econ and pub pol, with econ being ahead. But that's just my perception that also relates to my own interests, which doesn't need to coincide with yours. My advice: follow the professors you are interested in. This is a small enough field that you can actually do that. Do no limit yourself too much, just keep in mind that most (econ) phd programs do not offer pol econ as a field of choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 "Could a public policy PhD be an alternative to a political economy program?" If your substantive interest is actually development, perhaps yes. If your substantive interest is something like voting theory or legislative decision-making, no (in that case, a top political science PhD is the best alternative). In general public policy PhDs can provide adequate training for empirical work but not for theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 To those who have responded. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 Any ideas/thoughts on this? What are the unique research interests of the various programs? Any comments comparing the programs would be very helpful. I am trying to get a sense of the research approach and philosophy of the various programs. I assume there is a great heterogeneity in the approach of the programs and would like information to help understand these differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Bumping this thread... Any more thoughts on this issue would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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