World Online Ranking of Best Economics & Finance Scientists – 2023 Report

by Imed Bouchrika, PhD

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist

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Choosing a place to study, collaborate, or hire in economics and finance is not as simple as checking one famous name or one citation total. Research influence is spread across universities, policy institutions, and research organizations, and the strongest scholars are not always the best fit for every student or project. This guide explains how the 2023 Research.com ranking of economics and finance scientists works, what its results actually show, and how to use it wisely when comparing scholars, institutions, and academic pathways.

You will learn how the ranking was built, what the main country and institution patterns mean, where the ranking is useful, where it can mislead, and which questions to ask before making decisions about graduate study, collaboration, or research strategy. You will also see how online learning, accelerated degrees, and short credentials can support a research career when they match a clear goal.

Quick answer: what does the 2023 economics and finance scientists ranking show?

The 2023 Research.com ranking highlights scholars with strong discipline-specific citation impact in economics and finance. It uses the D-index, or Discipline H-index, with a threshold of 30, and it favors researchers whose work is mainly published in economics and finance. In the reported summary, the United States has the largest share of ranked scientists with 635 scholars, or 63.5%, followed by the United Kingdom with 113 scholars, or 11.3%.

Harvard University appears as the leading institution in the key findings, with 59 affiliated scientists, representing 5.9% of the ranking. In the institution-focused section, Harvard University is also listed as leading the 2023 edition with 50 researchers in the top list. These are ranking-specific results, so they should be used as a starting point rather than as the only measure of quality.

The full ranking is available here: Research.com ranking of the best economics and finance scientists.

What this ranking measures

This ranking is designed to identify economists and finance scholars whose research has had measurable influence in their field. Research.com reviewed more than 8,100 scientist profiles before producing the 2nd edition published on March 1st 2023. The final list relies heavily on bibliometric evidence, but it is not based on citations alone.

The central metric is the D-index, a field-specific version of the H-index that looks at citation impact inside a discipline rather than across all subjects. For this list, scholars needed a D-index of at least 30 and most of their publications needed to fall within economics and finance. The ranking also takes discipline-specific achievements and awards into account.

How to read the ranking without overinterpreting it

The ranking is useful when you want to identify established scholars, research centers, or institutions with visible impact in economics and finance. It is less useful if you try to use it as a complete measure of teaching quality, mentoring ability, student placement, or current collaboration potential. Citation-based rankings usually reward work that has already had time to accumulate attention, which can make newer researchers harder to spot.

For students, the list can help narrow down universities and researchers working on areas such as macroeconomics, financial regulation, econometrics, development finance, market structure, behavioral economics, and public policy. For institutions, it can support benchmarking and partnership planning. For researchers, it can help map out influential people and networks, but it should be paired with recent publications, methods, datasets, and current projects.

Best ways to use the ranking

• Finding established scholars whose work is widely cited in economics and finance.
• Identifying universities and research organizations with strong field visibility.
• Locating potential Ph.D. supervisors, postdoctoral hosts, collaborators, or seminar speakers.
• Comparing research influence across countries and institutions.
• Understanding which research communities have the strongest citation presence.

Where the ranking can be misleading

• It does not tell you whether a scholar is actively taking new students or collaborators.
• It does not measure mentoring quality, teaching quality, or student outcomes.
• It can undercount newer researchers whose work has not yet had enough time to accumulate citations.
• It reflects the affiliated institution used in the ranking, which is not the same thing as nationality.
• It should never replace a review of a scholar’s current work and research agenda.

Main findings from the 2023 edition

The 2023 results show a strong concentration of highly cited economics and finance researchers in the United States. The United Kingdom follows, while several other countries maintain smaller but visible representation. The institutional picture is similarly concentrated, with a small number of universities and policy organizations appearing repeatedly near the top.

Countries with the most leading economists and finance researchers

The United States remains the dominant country in the 2023 report. It added nine more scientists compared with 626 scientists in 2022, reaching 635 scholars in 2023. That total represents 63.5% of the full ranking. Within the top 1%, 8 out of 10 scientists are affiliated with U.S. institutions, while the remaining two are affiliated with institutions in the United Kingdom and France.

The United Kingdom ranks second with 113 scientists, an increase of five scientists from the previous year. Germany holds third place with 34 ranked scholars, which reflects a 5.56% decline compared with the prior year.

The Netherlands ranks fourth with 28 scientists, ahead of Australia in fifth place with 26 scholars. China is sixth and Italy is seventh, with 20 scholars each. Switzerland, which was sixth in 2022, moved down to eighth place in 2023 with 18 scholars.

The country assigned to each scientist is based on the location of the affiliated research institution, not the researcher’s nationality.

Institutions with the strongest research presence

Harvard University leads the institutional section of the 2023 ranking with 50 researchers in the top list of economics and finance scientists. MIT comes next with 37 scientists, and New York University follows with 33 scholars.

The top 1% of scholars is also heavily concentrated in U.S.-based research universities. Eight out of 10 institutions represented in that tier are American universities. The two exceptions are Imperial College London in the United Kingdom and Federal University of Toulouse in France.

Among U.S. universities, Harvard University is the only institution with three scientists in the top 1%. Those scholars are ranked 2nd, 8th, and 9th overall.

Several non-university organizations also appear prominently. The World Bank has 27 scholars, the International Monetary Fund has 17 scholars, and the US National Bureau of Economic Research has 7 scientists.

Among the 20 institutions with the highest number of scientists, 16 are universities in the United States. Three are in the United Kingdom: the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge. The World Bank is also included in the top 20 as an international financial institution.

How current research trends shape economics and finance careers

Recent economics and finance research has been strongly influenced by the shocks, policy responses, and uncertainty that followed the COVID-19 period. Researchers have examined how public health restrictions, stimulus programs, monetary policy, bailout measures, and volatility affected households, firms, markets, and governments.

One major research focus has been the economic and financial market effects of the pandemic. That line of work looked at market reactions, central bank intervention, and changes in financial regulation during crisis conditions.

Another important thread has been the future research agenda for economics and finance after pandemic disruption. These studies helped frame questions about resilience, financial contagion, crisis management, public intervention, and how markets adapt under extreme uncertainty.

For students and early-career researchers, these themes matter because they influence grant priorities, seminar topics, and hiring demand in policy, data, risk, and forecasting work. They also show why modern economics and finance training increasingly benefits from quantitative, policy, and data-oriented skills.

How cross-disciplinary study can strengthen economics and finance research

Economics and finance research increasingly overlaps with statistics, data science, law, public policy, computer science, behavioral science, and management. Rankings can help you identify visible scholars, but strong research performance often depends on training that extends beyond one discipline. Methods, modeling, regulation, communication, and practical application matter just as much as subject knowledge.

Online study can be useful for working professionals, graduate students, and early-career researchers who need to add skills without stepping away from work or research. If you are comparing budget-friendly options, Research.com’s guide to the most affordable online colleges for working adults can help you compare cost, flexibility, and program fit.

When online universities can help researchers keep momentum

Universities support research through teaching, seminars, peer review, data access, and professional networks. Online learning and virtual collaboration can extend those functions beyond a single campus, especially when scholars work across time zones or institutions.

During disruptive periods such as the pandemic, online workshops, shared datasets, remote research groups, and virtual training helped many academic communities continue their work. One example is the University of Cambridge’s Data Champions initiative, which supports data-focused knowledge sharing. For economics and finance researchers, these models can make it easier to work with students, faculty, and analysts regardless of location.

Do accelerated online master’s programs make sense for this field?

Condensed master’s programs can be a good option for professionals who already know what skill gap they want to close and need structured advanced training in less time. In economics and finance, that may include quantitative analysis, applied research design, policy evaluation, risk modeling, or data interpretation.

They are not the right choice for everyone. Accelerated formats often demand strong time management, solid preparation, and a clear understanding of the workload. If you want to compare faster options, Research.com’s guide to 1 year online masters programs can help you evaluate structure and pacing.

Can rankings affect careers and research opportunities?

Yes, rankings can influence visibility. A highly ranked scholar may receive more invitations to collaborate, speak, review papers, advise doctoral students, or participate in grant and policy work. Institutions with many ranked scholars may also gain reputational advantages in hiring, student recruitment, and partnership building.

Still, rankings should not be treated as the full story. Hiring committees, collaborators, and funders usually look at publication quality, topical fit, methods, grants, teaching, service, and the relevance of current projects. If your work sits between finance, regulation, and policy, you may also want to compare related training such as online master’s programs in legal studies, especially when legal literacy is part of your research direction.

Can affordable online credentials support a research profile?

Short online credentials can help researchers build a specific skill set without committing to a full degree. They are most useful when they close a real gap, support an active project, or prepare you for a defined role. Examples include research ethics, data analytics, compliance, public administration, or financial regulation.

The best certificate is the one that serves a clear purpose. Before enrolling, make sure the credential fits your current goals and the work you want to do next. If you are comparing lower-cost options, Research.com’s guide to affordable online graduate certificate programs may help.

Do academic achievements lead to higher earnings?

Academic recognition can open doors, but it does not guarantee a specific salary or career outcome. Compensation depends on many factors, including citation impact, institution, specialization, grant activity, consulting work, location, and whether a person moves between academia, government, and industry.

For students deciding on a major or graduate pathway, cost, debt, career fit, and labor-market demand matter just as much as prestige. Research.com’s guide to degrees associated with higher earnings can help readers compare fields without assuming that any one credential guarantees a certain income.

When an online doctorate may be a smart option

Online doctoral programs can appeal to working professionals who need flexibility while pursuing advanced research training. They may make it possible to keep working, collaborate remotely, and study with faculty or cohorts outside a local region. In economics and finance, the value of an online doctorate depends on accreditation, faculty expertise, dissertation support, research fit, and quantitative rigor.

Before enrolling, check whether the program matches your intended research area and whether the degree is appropriate for academic, policy, consulting, or industry work. If you want to compare shorter completion timelines and format options, see Research.com’s list of online doctorate degree options.

D-index leaders, averages, and geographic distribution

Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University in the United States ranks first overall, with a D-index of 177.

In Europe, Professor Mike Wright of Imperial College London in the United Kingdom leads the region with a D-index of 143 and ranks 5th worldwide.

In Asia, Professor Muhammad Shahbaz of the Beijing Institute of Technology in China has an h-index of 101 and ranks 57th globally.

In Oceania, Professor David A. Hensher of the University of Sydney in Australia leads with a D-index of 101 and a world ranking of 56.

Professor Rangan Gupta of the University of Pretoria is the leading ranked scientist in South Africa and holds the 367th position worldwide.

Professor Benjamin Miranda Tabak of Fundação Getulio Vargas is the highest-ranking scientist from South America, with a world ranking of 986.

The average D-index for the top 1% of scientists is 149.3, compared with an average of 65.38 for all 2000 scientists included in the ranking. The lowest D-index value among scholars included in the 2023 ranking is 46.

The top 1% of scientists have an average of 624 published articles and 174,876 citations, while the full group of 2000 scholars has an average of 261 published articles and 34,907 citations.

What questions should you ask before relying on a ranking?

Rankings work best when they begin the evaluation process rather than end it. Before choosing a university, supervisor, research collaborator, or hiring partner based on this list, ask focused questions about fit, support, and current activity.

• Does the scholar’s recent work actually match the topic I want to study or support?
• Are the scholar’s most cited publications still central to their current research direction?
• Does the department or institution offer the methods training, datasets, seminars, and funding I need?
• Is the scholar currently supervising students, hiring assistants, or building new collaborations?
• Do citation counts reflect influence in my specific subfield, or mainly in a broader area?
• Does the institution have placement results, grant activity, and research infrastructure that support my goals?
• Am I using the ranking together with publication review, faculty conversations, program data, and independent judgment?

Common mistakes when interpreting economics and finance rankings

Methodology and research coordination

Readers who want more detail about how Research.com creates rankings can review the methodology page here: Research.com methodology.

The research process was coordinated by Imed Bouchrika, Ph.D., a computer scientist with experience collaborating on international research projects across the academic community. His role included supporting data accuracy, neutrality, and currency during the ranking process.

About Research.com

Research.com publishes science and education rankings to help professors, research fellows, students, and education decision-makers identify leading experts, institutions, academic opportunities, and career pathways. The platform also offers resources that help learners compare colleges, degrees, and professional options more clearly.

Key insights

• The 2023 economics and finance ranking measures discipline-specific research influence, not teaching quality, mentoring fit, or career outcomes.
• The United States has the strongest presence in the report, with 635 scholars and 63.5% of the ranked list.
• Harvard University leads the institutional summaries, appearing with 59 scientists in the key findings and 50 researchers in the institution-focused section.
• Major policy and research organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the US National Bureau of Economic Research, show that impactful economics and finance research happens outside universities too.
• The top 1% of scholars have much higher average D-index, publication, and citation figures than the full group of 2000 ranked scientists.
• Use the ranking to build a shortlist, then verify recent publications, research fit, mentorship availability, funding, and institutional support before deciding.
• Online degrees, certificates, and doctoral programs can strengthen a research path when they fill a clear gap, but they should be checked carefully for accreditation, rigor, cost, and relevance.