Demographic Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Economics Ph.D. Students

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Staff Reports

Demographic Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Economics Ph.D. Students

Number 1129
October 2024

JEL classification: A11, A23, J15, J16

Authors: Beverly Hirtle and Anna Kovner

We analyze 6,400 letters of recommendation for more than 2,200 economics and finance Ph.D. graduates from 2018 to 2021. Letter text varies significantly by field of interest, with significantly less positive and shorter letters for Macroeconomics and Finance candidates. Letters for female and Black or Hispanic job candidates are weaker in some dimensions, while letters for Asian candidates are notably less positive overall. We introduce a new measure of letter quality capturing candidates that are recommended to “top” departments. Female, Asian, and Black or Hispanic candidates are all less likely to be recommended to top academic departments, even after controlling for other letter characteristics. Finally, we examine early career outcomes and find that letter characteristics, especially a “top” recommendation have meaningful effects on initial job placements and journal publications.

Full Article

Author Disclosure Statement(s)

Beverly Hirtle
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html

Anna Kovner
The author declares that she has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper. Prior to circulation, this paper was reviewed in accordance with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York review policy, available at https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/index.html

Suggested Citation:
Hirtle, Beverly, and Anna Kovner. 2024. “Demographic Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Economics Ph.D. Students.” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 1129, October. https://doi.org/10.59576/sr.1129

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