The best young economists

RePEc recently released a ranking of the best young economists. While it is obvious that results are going to be somewhat spurious when based on a short career (and for other reasons explained on the RePEc blog, there are still some interesting aspects to them. First, looking at those that have a publication record for 10 years or less, to things stand out: 1) there is substantial female presence; 2) the US dominance is less pronounced.

First about the women. While in the general ranking, there is only one woman in the top 100 (Carmen Reinhard), there are much more numerous among the young: Monika Piazzesi at 7, Paola Sapienzi at 10, Eliana La Ferrara at 21, and more. While women are still a small minority, this is a remarkable change.

Them the Europeans. In the general ranking, I count only five economists based in Europe among the top 50 (one of them deceased), there are 11, plus two in Australia, among the top young. This shows how much progress Europe has made in graduate education and in its capacity in retaining talent compared to recent decades.