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Go back to school for a Ph.d in economics?

I have a BA in economics, and took some graduate courses in economics when I was an undergraduate and later when I was doing my masters in public policy. I currently work as a corporate research analyst for a government-contractor, making $73K a year. Some but not most of the projects done for work deal with theoretical economics. When I was an undergraduate, I always thought that I would wind up getting a Ph.d, but job offers that I received while I was getting my masters put those plans on hold. With the salary that I have now, is it worthwhile to leave my job to obtain a Ph.d in economics (even though I am undecided whether I would enter academia or not). By the way, I am turning 30 this year. Is that too late to get a Ph.d in economics? I also may not make it to the top 10 (e.g. Stanford, Harvard, MIT, etc), and am actually looking forward more to schools like UCLA and CalTech, which are closer to my family and friends.

When you look at the numbers, a Phd in economics does not raise your salary by very much compared to a masters. It does depend on the work you are doing though. I have heard that many companies have a bit of a ceiling on how high you can advance without the Phd, but have also heard that this can be mitigated by your experience, which you have. You might actually know more about this than most you will find on the internet. I would ask other people in your field at work since they would know.

I do not think you should be worried about the top 10, top 50 etc. for programs. From what I have seen this matters somewhat for high profile private jobs, but primarily for careers in academia. Almost all I have heard from have said that it is nice to have, but you can do just as well with experience, and a program that meets your needs specifically through the department, i.e. microeconomics, developmental economics, resource economics, or whichever particular field you want to go into. Most mid-level to lower-level programs list their job placements, and if you look at them they are not drastically different than the other schools, but they do not list the salary or job title.

One thing I have also heard which makes sense to me is too look at the employment opportunities within the general region of the school. Many companies are used to hiring from a few specific schools because they have contacts there and have hired from there in the past, so they tend to look at those schools when hiring new employees. They wouldn’t necessarily not hire you because you were from a different region, but just don’t get a lot of applications from other places so they aren’t as familiar with the school and have to be told about it. This is one area where a top school would be an advantage.

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