Abstract
Professor Sun concludes that publishing performance, adjusted for differences in the number of Ph.D.'s granted, is not a function of the quality of graduate schools. Larger institutions appear to have an advantage by turning out a larger number of Ph.D.'s, but no correlation was found when the number of contributors to the AER from a school was compared with the rating of its graduate programs.
Economics departments may hope to improve their rating in doctoral programs by producing more Ph.D.'s and encouraging them to contribute to the AER, Professor Sun concludes.