Academic credentials and career outcomes: evidence from Brazilian economists

Francis Petterini and Victor Buttignon

EconomiA, 2025, vol. 27, issue 2, 251-272

Abstract: PurposeWe analyze how academic credentials relate to career outcomes using linked microdata on Brazilian economists, focusing on two credentials (admission test scores and program prestige) and multiple outcomes spanning the labor market (e.g. wages) and research productivity (e.g. publication incidence).Design/methodology/approachWe follow 888 master’s graduates over nearly a decade to track their career development. To address endogeneity and sample-selection issues, we estimate a set of Heckman selection models with endogenous regressors.FindingsWages are positively associated with admission test scores but not with program prestige. Research productivity shows mixed associations with these credentials. Overall, the estimates are suggestive of – but do not establish – a sorting mechanism whereby a larger share of high-scoring students from top programs select into non-academic, higher-paying careers, whereas graduates from lower-ranked programs are relatively more likely to pursue academic careers within Brazil.Research limitations/implicationsPartial observability and the context-specific nature of the data limit the generalizability of our findings; future work should lengthen the observation window and follow additional cohorts.Practical implicationsFindings inform applicants, programs and policymakers about potential trade-offs between prestige and career paths.Social implicationsInsights into sorting between academic and non-academic careers can inform policies to retain research talent.Originality/valueWe provide novel evidence on Brazilian economists’ early careers using linked administrative and bibliometric microdata, combining sample-selection correction with endogenous regressors.

Keywords: Academic credentials; Career outcomes; Brazilian economists; Heckman model with endogeneity; Graduate education; Signaling mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:econpp:econ-08-2024-0116

DOI: 10.1108/ECON-08-2024-0116

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