Getting a PhD in economics is an option that has long been recommended within EA, and an option that many are already pursuing. Within the options available for economics PhD holders, entering and influencing academia is a promising path for a number of cause areas, as indicated by the growing number of EA-related research institutes doing academic research on economics (such as GPI, PWI). Besides working at EA-related research institutes, getting tenure-track positions (especially at top schools) is a particularly promising option for influencing academia, to the point that, as a community, we would want to have a number of EA-aligned economists working on these positions.

To inform EAs about decision-making for tenure-track placements, I estimated how likely it was for economics PhD holders to get into an assistant professor position after the completion of their PhDs, with a particular emphasis on placements on top 35 US and top 5 European schools. I wrote a short document summing up my findings, which you can access through the link above.