Choosing Your PhD Topic (and Why It Is Important)

In this article, I outline the reasons why the choice of PhD research topic has important and persistent effects on an economist ' s career. Although the issues raised in this article are most acute for those wishing to pursue a career in academia, there are also implications for those working outside academia. While there are many factors that determine whether an economist has a successful career, I argue that the choice of PhD topic is an issue, which deserves more attention. Although primarily targeted at PhD students, the issues raised here resonate throughout an economist ' s career .