"The whole profession is built on a ranking system that emphasizes publishing in top-ranked journals, presenting at exclusive conferences, and landing academic positions at top-ranked programs. Most of those are really insular and not easily available to the vast majority of the field." https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/economics-frustrations "more than 75% of the faculty at the top two programs (Harvard and MIT) earned their Ph.D.s from either Harvard or MIT" see https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai20-324.pdf