Economists' Major League

I ran into this article and got this interesting figure. The salaries paid by the public universities to assistant professors are not much different from those given by private ones. The gap is much larger for full professors. Apparently, private universities cheery pick the economists when they are proven to be ripen. In a way, public universities are very much like major league's farm system - only the very best get to pitch in the big league. I deeply believe the trend will continue in the foreseeable future.

(Source: Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 2004, Prospects in the Academic Labor Market for Economists, The Journal of Economic Perspectives,
18-2, p227-38}