FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - An article published in the Journal of the European Economic Association has ranked the Department of Economics in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, in the top 200 economics departments in the world. The ranking was based on the quantity of faculty research articles in the top 30 economics journals between 1994-1998.

In addition, the Walton College economics department was ranked 50th among the public universities in the United States.

"Considering the thousands of economics departments throughout the world, it is an honor to receive this international recognition. This ranking is based on research productivity at the highest level. Credit goes to our exceptional economics faculty who have published leading-edge research in the most respected journals in the field," said Joe Ziegler, chair of the Walton College department of economics and director of International Business Studies.

The European Economic Association is an international scientific body, with membership open to all persons involved or interested in economics. It aims to contribute to the development and application of economics as a science and improve exchanges between teachers, researchers and students in economics in the different European countries. The organization's journal serves as a global outlet for the best research in the field of economics.

The ranking study was conducted by Pantelis Kalaitzidakis, University of Crete; Theofanis P. Manuneas, University of Leicester and University of Cyprus; and Thanasis Tengos, University of Guelph. The top institutions on the list of 200 included Harvard University, University of Chicago, MIT and Northwestern University.

In 2002, two Walton College economics professors were listed in the top two percent of economists in the world by the European Economic Association. Gary D. Ferrier, Lewis E. Epley, Jr. professor of economics, was recognized for the number of citations his research has received in other economists' publications. Amy Farmer, professor of economics, was recognized for the number of articles she published from 1990 to 2000. At that time, the European Economic Association ranked the top 1,000 economists (out of 54,998) in terms of number of publications and citations from a list of journals indexed in the American Economic Association's Journal of Economic Literature.