Economics Faculty Research at Teaching Institutions: Are Historically Black Colleges Different?

• Author: Agesa, Jacqueline

Jacqueline Agesa [*]

Maury Granger [+]

Gregory N. Price [++]

This paper examines the difference in research output of economics departments at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and non-HBCUs that are teaching institutions. We also examine the causal relationship between economics faculty research and the number of an institution's baccalaureate graduates who earn doctorates in economics. Our findings suggest that economics departments at HBCUs produce less research output relative to non-HBCUs. However, research output is equally effective in producing economics doctorates at both types of institutions. These findings suggest that a plausible way to increase the stock of black Ph.D. economists is to increase economics research at HBCUs.

1. Introduction

   An emerging literature on economics faculty research at undergraduate institutions underscores the fact that research universities are no longer the sole sources of scholarship in economics. This is particularly true in the case of liberal arts colleges. Analyses by Hartley and Robinson (1997) and Bodenhorn (1997) suggest that an increasing emphasis is being placed on scholarship in economics at liberal arts colleges. To the extent that the historical mission of this type of institution has been teaching, some concerns can be raised as to whether or not an emphasis on scholarship is complementary with teaching. In this context, Hartley and Robinson (1997) report that at least one measure of teaching effectiveness is complementary with scholarship: There is a positive correlation between the research productivity of an economics department and the number of its baccalaureate graduates who earn Ph.D. degrees in economics. Agesa, Granger, and Price (1998) report a similar relationship between economics faculty research productivity and the number of baccalaureate graduates earning economics doctorates at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

   With the exception of Hartley and Robinson (1997), who include Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in their sample (two liberal arts colleges that are HBCUs), the emerging literature on economics research at teaching colleges and universities provides no insights into economics faculty research at HBCUs relative to non-HBCUs. Ranking 125 liberal arts colleges on the basis of the number of articles published over the 1989-1994 period that were indexed in the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL), Hartley and Robinson's results show the average for the sample is 9.7 JEL-indexed articles. [1] The totals for Morehouse and Spelman, respectively, were one and three JEL-indexed publications. Because the typical institution in the sample is a non-HBCU, this suggests that relative to non-HBCUs, economics faculty at HBCUs may publish less. As Morehouse and Spelman are only two HBCUs and may or may not be representative of all HBCUs, a fundamental question is whether HBCUs in general are different from non-HBCUs with regard to economics faculty research productivity.

   In this paper, we examine whether or not HBCUs are different from non-HBCUs in terms of research productivity in economics. The determinants of research productivity are estimated for a sample of 39 HBCUs and 101 non-HBCUs. Our specification allows the measurement of the expected returns to research output of faculty and institutional characteristics at these teaching institutions. We also explore whether or not research productivity at these teaching institutions has any impact upon teaching effectiveness and the extent to which it varies by institutional type. In particular, we explore whether or not, for the HBCUs and non-HBCUs in our sample, economics faculty research and teaching are complementary in a particular way--does faculty research productivity influence the number of students that ultimately earn doctorates in economics?

   A comparative analysis of research output at HBCUs and non-HBCUs is of interest for several reasons. First, existing empirical analyses on faculty research in economics at teaching colleges utilize samples that consist either almost entirely of non-HBCUs (Bodenhorn 1997; Hartley and Robinson 1997) or entirely HBCUs (Agesa, Granger, and Price 1998). An analysis with a sample that includes both non-HBCUs and a substantial number of HBCUs would promote insight into the extent to which institutional type matters for faculty research productivity in economics. Second, given that HBCUs are not sufficiently sampled in existing studies, no safe generalization can be made as to whether or not HBCUs are fundamentally different than non-HBCUs with regard to faculty research productivity. This analysis provides an initial assessment of whether or not HBCUs are different. Finally, for both non-HBCUs and HBCUs, the research productivity of an economics faculty has been found to be positively correlated with the number of its baccalaureate graduates who earn doctorates in economics (Hartley and Robinson 1997; Agesa, Granger, and Price 1998). If this functional relationship is independent of institutional type (HBCU or non-HBCU), an implication is that research and teaching are complementary at both types of institutions. Moreover, given the underrepresentation of black Americans among Ph.D. economists, a causal and positive relationship between HBCU faculty research productivity and the doctoral achievements of HBCU baccalaureate graduates in economics suggests that one way to increase the number of black Ph.D. economists would be for HBCUs to commit more resources to economics faculty research. Moreover, an examination of the relationship between economics faculty research and the doctoral achievements of HBCU baccalaureate graduates will perhaps provide a better understanding of the limited supply of black Ph.D. economists and the potential of HBCU economics programs to increase the supply. [2]

   The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a brief history of HBCUs. The data and descriptive statistics for HBCUs and non-HBCUs are provided in section 3. In section 4, we estimate research output equations for the sample of HBCUs and non-HBCUs utilizing a Poisson regression approach. This approach allows the measurement of differences in the expected level of economics research output between the two types of institutions. The relationship between faculty research productivity and teaching effectiveness at teaching institutions is explored in section 5. Measuring teaching effectiveness as the number of an institution's baccalaureate graduates who earn doctorates in economics, we explore the relationship between economics faculty research productivity and the probability that an institution's baccalaureate graduates will earn a doctorate in economics. In section 6, we explore scenarios under which HBCUs could be instrumental in increasing the number of black Americans earning do ctorates in economics. The last section concludes.

2. Historically Black Colleges

   The history of HBCU can be traced back to the years prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1837, the first HBCU, Cheyney State Training School, was founded. Financial support for HBCUs at the state level began in earnest as a reaction to the Land Grant Act of 1890. For the first half of the 20th century, a dual system of education was maintained on the basis of the logic of Plessy v. Ferguson. [3] Only later, in 1954, did the Supreme Court attempt to remedy racially segregated educational institutions and the implied funding disparities, in Brown v. Board of Education. [4] Between 1854 and 1899, a total of 81 public and private HBCUs had been created, the majority of which where located in the South. Most of the HBCUs formed during this period were agricultural and vocational institutions, and as Du Bois (1994) notes, many were, by circumstance, merely capable of providing blacks with the equivalent of a high school education. Notwithstanding such humble origins and circumstances, Du Bois reported that b etween 1875 and 1900, HBCUs produced 1056 graduates, the majority of whom were employed as teachers, clergymen, physicians, and civil servants. With respect to economics in the curriculum at HBCUs, an early analysis by Oak [5] (1938) reveals that HBCUs began offering coursework, and in some instances undergraduate degrees in economics, beginning in 1917.

   Currently, there are 87 HBCUs that are four-year baccalaureate degree-granting institutions in the United States and territories. Of these, three have Carnegie classifications as doctoral institutions, and one has a classification of Research 1 [6] The capability of HBCUs in producing black baccalaureate graduates is rather impressive. In 1995, only 19% of all black undergraduates were enrolled at HBCUs, yet in that same year, HBCUs were responsible for 33% of all baccalaureate degrees awarded to blacks. Even more relevant to the analysis of this paper, approximately 25% of all doctorates in economics awarded to blacks between 1986 and 1996 went to HBCU alumni (Price 1998). Howard University is the only HBCU with a doctoral program in economics, and they appear to be especially impressive in producing black Ph.D. economists; between 1980 and 1995, 24 black baccalaureate graduates of Howard earned economics doctorates, approximately 8% of all doctorates in economics awarded to black Americans over the period. [7]

   The history of HBCUs also includes contributions to the stock of prominent black economists and economic knowledge. Some of the prominent black economists that were either educated at or affiliated with HBCUs include George Edmund Haynes and Abram Harris, Jr. Haynes was a graduate of Fisk University (a HBCU) and was the first black American to receive a doctorate in economics from Columbia University. Haynes chaired the Social Science Department at Fisk for many years and later served as the Director of the Office of Negro Economics, U.S. Department of Labor. Stewart (1997)...