The Relative Impact of Historically Black College and University Economics Departments and Economists: Has the Hierarchy Changed Since the Turn of the Century?

Abstract

This study examines citation patterns associated with the research being done by the current generation of economists affiliated with America's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In terms of mean citations, we report that the economics department at Bethune-Cookman University ranks first, followed by South Carolina State University and Tennessee State University. In terms of total citations, we find that Howard University ranks first, followed by North Carolina A&T State University and Tennessee State University. Our study is also the first to examine the relative impact of individual economists across the HBCU landscape. In doing so, we report that Elizabeth Asiedu of Howard University ranks first, followed by Ekanayake Ekanayake of Bethune-Cookman University and Faridul Islam of Morgan State University. Lastly, a separate analysis reveals a strong positive correlation between the relative sizes of the economics departments at HBCUs and the research impact of those economics departments. Thus, it appears as though institutions that commit a greater proportion of their resources (i.e., faculty lines) to economics have more influential economists.