A paper co-authored by Stephen Wu, "The Search for Economics Talent: Doctoral Completion and Research Productivity," was one of the key research sources referenced in a Jan. 9 story in InsideHigherEd.com. Titled "Defining What Makes an Economist," the article discussed what factors might play a role in predicting student success in ultimately completing a Ph.D. in economics, publishing and landing a tenure-track job at a top-20 program.
Wu and his co-author Wayne Grove found that applicants' quantitative GRE scores and the prestige of their reference letter writers – "but not the prestige of the undergraduate institutions" — serve to "strongly predict" Ph.D. completion and long-term research productivity.
The paper, presented by Wu at the 2007 American Economic Association Conference, will be published in American Economic Review.
Another paper written by Wu titled "Recent Publishing Trends in the AER, JPE and QJE" appeared in the January 2007 issue of Applied Economics Letters. It has been quoted in an article in economicprincipals.com.
