Research Makes Economists Happy

From “The Labor Market for New Ph.D. Economists,” AER Papers and Proceedings, v. 94, n.2 (May 2004):

… In response to the questions “How do you feel about your job?” 55% said they like it very much, 39 percent said they like it fairly well, and 6 percent sad they dislike it or dislike it somewhat. Those 6 percent who stated that they dislike their jobs at least somewhat spend an average of 44 percent of their time teaching and 30 percent in research. Those who stated that they like their job very much spend an average of 25 percent of their time teaching and 50 percent of their time in research. The 37 percent of employed graduates who strongly agreed with the statement “This position is similar to what I expected to be doing when I began my Ph.D. program” spend an average of 31 percent of their time teaching and 51 percent of their time in research. The 8 percent who strongly disagreed with the statement spend an average of only 19% of their time teaching and only 28 percent in research (most of the rest of their time is spent consulting or in professional service activities, which apparently was not anticipated). A little more than five out of six respondents (86 percent) reported that had they known then what they know now, they still would have enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Economics.

The impact of blogging on economists’ utility was not examined.

AB