Is the dominance of graduates from top-tier universities among tenured faculty driven by prestige or output? Evidence from 50 years of university appointments in Germany

Stefan Buechele, Guido Buenstorf, Matthias Huegel, Johannes Koenig () and Maria Theissen
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Stefan Buechele: University of Kassel, INCHER and Institute of Economics
Matthias Huegel: University of Kassel, INCHER and Institute of Economics
Johannes Koenig: University of Kassel, INCHER and Institute of Economics; IAB Institute for Employment Research, Saarbruecken
Maria Theissen: University of Kassel, INCHER and Institute of Economics

MAGKS Papers on Economics from Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung)

Abstract: Previous research has shown that a large fraction of tenured university faculty in the U.S. and other countries were trained at a small number of highly prestigious universities. The question remains whether this concentration is due to competitive advantages held by candidates from these universities, or whether it merely reflects the larger output of early-career researchers aspiring to faculty positions by these universities. To address this question, we analyze data covering the full population of doctoral graduates in Germany since the 1960s. Similar to studies of the U.S. system of higher education, we observe a strong concentration of professors trained at only a small number of universities. However, we find no evidence indicating that the prestige of the doctoral degree-granting university systematically affects individuals’ odds of being appointed to professorships. Despite increasing stratification tendencies, our results do not indicate that the importance of the degree-granting university for academic careers has increased. While doctoral graduates from top-tier universities are more likely to secure faculty positions at similar institutions, this is mostly due to returns to their own alma mater after initial appointments elsewhere.

Keywords: Faculty appointment; university prestige; stratification; academic labor market; professorship; Germany; Habilitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J24 J40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-his, nep-lma and nep-sog
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mar:magkse:202516

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