Best schools for a PhD in behavioral economics

[DuaniNofar]

Hi guys,

I could really use your help...

 

I plan on applying for a PhD this coming fall, focusing on behavioral economics (and not game theory).

I'm finind it really difficult to understand which universities to apply to. It seems like behavioral economists can be found literally anywhere (Marketing, Management, Econ, Business and Psychology).

 

If you can help me by telling me which universities you think I should consider (I'm only considering top 30 universities at the moment), which researchers you know that work in these universities and their departments, or even just strategies for how to figure it out for myself, I will be eternally grateful.

 

Thanks a lot,

[chateauheart]

In terms of training, most behavioral economists will need to have a pure economics PhD. The three first-year grad econ sequences are all important for behavioral econ. Notably the first half of macro is very helpful for behavioral, and b-school programs will usually skip macro.

 

There are plenty of behavioral economists who then place into b-schools, since their research is often very interesting to business cases and to MBA students. But the training is mostly econ.

 

Getting into T30 economics PhDs is quite difficult.

 

Also, you should optimally have either a math or stats major as your background to succeed in grad school as a behavioral econ student.

[DuaniNofar]

In terms of training, most behavioral economists will need to have a pure economics PhD. The three first-year grad econ sequences are all important for behavioral econ. Notably the first half of macro is very helpful for behavioral, and b-school programs will usually skip macro.

 

There are plenty of behavioral economists who then place into b-schools, since their research is often very interesting to business cases and to MBA students. But the training is mostly econ.

 

Getting into T30 economics PhDs is quite difficult.

 

Also, you should optimally have either a math or stats major as your background to succeed in grad school as a behavioral econ student.

 

So if certain universities I am considering dont have behavioral economists in their department (only in the business school) does that mean I will not be able to work with them. For instance, at MIT economics only Drazen Prelec appears to be doing anything behavioral, but there are a few people at Sloan that have some interesting work in that field. If I apply to MIT econ, does that mean I won't be able to work with any of the researchers at Sloan?

Also, many here have mentioned Carnegie Mellon as a good school for behavioral economics but from what I've found their ranking is not even in the top 50 (for econmics), so will I be better off applying there (since they are clearly great at behavioral econ) or at a higher ranking school with a weaker behavioral focus?

 

Thanks a lot for your reply!

[chateauheart]

You will usually be able to work with researchers at b-schools. Many of them actually prefer PhD econ students to work with.

 

You have provided no information about your profile, so I don't know if CMU is good enough to be on your application list.

[DuaniNofar]

In terms of training, most behavioral economists will need to have a pure economics PhD. The three first-year grad econ sequences are all important for behavioral econ. Notably the first half of macro is very helpful for behavioral, and b-school programs will usually skip macro.

 

There are plenty of behavioral economists who then place into b-schools, since their research is often very interesting to business cases and to MBA students. But the training is mostly econ.

 

Getting into T30 economics PhDs is quite difficult.

 

Also, you should optimally have either a math or stats major as your background to succeed in grad school as a behavioral econ student.

 

another quick question, if I may...

when you say behavioral economist should have an economic background, is this important mainly for employment in the private sector or for academics?

[chateauheart]

Generally speaking, there is little reason to pursue a PhD if you're not interested in placing in academia or a similar research career.