Economics has overtaken government as the most popular concentration at Harvard, according to records released yesterday by the Registrar's Office.

Economics concentrators increased from 477 in 1993 to 488 this year. Government concentrators declined by 52, from 522 in 1993 to 470 this year.

Concentration statistics for the class of 1997 support the trend: 119 sophomores chose to concentrate in government while 139 decided on economics.

Government department chair Susan J. Pharr, Reischauer professor of Japanese politics, said the 10 percent decrease in government concentrators was caused by a leveling effect. "Enrollments soared in the '80s due to a interest in business and legal professions, but have leveled off," she said.

Increasing cynicism about politics may also be responsible for the decrease in government concentrators, Pharr said. "When there's a lot of enthusiasm about government's ability to solve problems, enrollment is up," she said. "Cynicism may have led to some of the decrease."

Pharr also thinks the new world order may be responsible for the decline. "Such a confusing world may leave some disheartened," she said.

However, the decrease may not be a bad thing for the department. Pharr said the high number of concentrators has overstretched the department's resources for many years.

"One of the features of the concentration students liked was the junior seminars," she said. "It was difficult to offer enough seminars and they were overcrowded...students' preferences were not met."

Enrollment in the economics concentration may have increased due to the media attention the economy received during the 1992 election, said Assistant Professor Andrew P. Metrick, head tutor in the department. "The current crop of sophomores voted in that election," he said.

In general, the number of economics concentrators increases when the economy does poorly Metrick said. "The general perception of the economics department is that when the economy isn't doing well we get many students. In hard times the economy is in the news."

Metrick also credits the popularity of the economics concentration to Professors Martin S. Feldstein '61 and Brian J. Hall '86, who jointly teach the introductory economics course Social Analysis 10, commonly known as "Ec 10."

Pharr and Metrick agree that the flexibility of government and economics degrees makes the two fields of study the most popular at Harvard. "Government and economics concentrators can do a wide variety of things," Metrick said. "Law, medicine and business are all possibilities."

Even though enrollment in both departments is quite high, there is a disparity between the number of male and female concentrators. This year, males outnumber females by about 3 to 1 in economics and 1.6 to I in government.

"The economics department, like most fields with quantitative areas, would love to see more women," Metrick said. "Because economics is so big, it's perceived to be hostile in general...it's not a gender issue," he said.

While the economics department is pleased with the increase in concentrators, Metrick warns that the trend may be temporary. "[The increase] may just be a random blip," he said.

Metrick and Pharr both emphasized that a rivalry between the economics and government departments does not exist. "In many ways the departments have grown closer," Pharr said.

Biology, with 448, is a close third in the list of popular concentrations