Best Accredited Universities for Doctoral Phd program in Economics

The Ph.D. program at Princeton Economics is one of the premier economics programs in the world.

Admission to the program is extremely selective. Each year, the department receives approximately 800 applications for a class of 20 to 25 students. Students come from diverse backgrounds and from dozens of countries around the globe.

Princeton provides all admitted Ph.D. students tuition and fellowship support for the academic year. Admitted students also receive fellowship support through the summer months so they can continue their study and research when classes are not in session.

The PhD program in the Economics at Harvard is addressed to students of high promise who wish to prepare themselves for careers in teaching and research in academia or for responsible positions in government, research organizations, or business enterprises. Students are expected to devote themselves full-time to their programs of study.

The program prepares students for productive and stimulating careers as economists. Courses and seminars offered by the department foster an intellectually active and stimulating environment. Each week, the department sponsors than 15 different seminars on such topics as environmental economics, economic growth and development, monetary and fiscal policy, international economics, industrial organization, law and economics, behavioral economics, labor economics, and economic history. Top scholars from both domestic and international communities are often invited speakers at the seminars.

Both the department and the wider University draw some of the brightest students from around the world, which makes for a student body that is culturally diverse and likely unequaled in the range of intellectual interests of its members. These factors combine to add an important dimension to the educational process. Students are able to learn from one another, collaborate on research projects and publications, and form bonds that are not broken by distance once the degree is completed and professional responsibilities lead them in different directions.

Harvard has several PhD programs that may also be of interest to students considering applying to the PhD program in economics. These include Business Economics, Political Economy and Government, Public Policy, and Health Policy. Many students in these programs have considerable overlap in their coursework with courses offered to PhD students in economics.

We encourage those with interest in any of those programs to also to those programs. The Economics will make admissions decisions independently, so application to or admission to other programs will not adversely affect admissions decisions within the department. However, please note that if you choose to to additional programs, you can only submit two applications to GSAS in a single year and no than three applications during the course of your academic career.

Applicants should have an understanding of economics. At a minimum, we expect some economics courses beyond the principles level. However, the ultimate objective of the program is to produce successful economic researchers, so demonstrating the ability to do research is an important criterion. This could be accomplished by either having done research previously or via experience as a research assistant. In the latter instance, a letter from the supervisor indicating the ability to do research is critical.

The Economics offers tips on filling out the application and GSAS Policies for program requirements.

Graduate students in economics receive full tuition and stipend support while they are enrolled and making satisfactory progress toward the PhD. The division strongly encourages applicants to for support from extramural agencies. Students who receive competitively funded extramural fellowships, which will be used toward our student support upon matriculating to our programs, may be eligible to receive an educational allowance from the division. If you have external funding, please be sure to state that in your application. If you don’t have funding when you but receive it later, please make sure to communicate this to the department.

Brenda Piquet Assistant Director, PhD Programs Economics Littauer Center 201 Cambridge, MA 02138.

Development has long been one of the strengths of the Yale Economics Department. The field benefits from its rich history of leadership in the profession, and from the institutional support of the Economic Growth Center. The focus of the group is on empirical microeconomic analysis of development using a wide variety of methods.

The journal Econometric Theory has been hosted at Yale since its establishment in 1985. Following its longstanding tradition of supporting research in quantitative economics, the Cowles Foundation provides a uniquely supportive environment for econometric work in all its modern manifestations from theory to practice and amidst its growing number of sub-disciplines from time series econometrics and financial econometrics through to microeconometrics and spatial econometrics.

The Cowles Foundation funds a regular influx of short term and long term academic visitors, post-docs, and doctoral students from other institutes, who contribute to the research atmosphere in econometrics and provide an additional intellectual resource for our own graduate students. Many prominent econometricians from around the world visit the department and spend sabbatical terms at Yale.

The Yale econometrics group has close interactions with applied fields, particularly industrial organization, labor, macroeconomics, development, structural microeconomics, and finance. These interactions assist our graduate students in developing applied interests to accompany their research in econometric theory.

The Department runs three weekly workshop meetings in econometrics. A formal Econometrics Seminar hosts speakers invited from other universities to report on their latest research and to provide s of developing research areas. The Workshop also provides a venue for short term visitors to discuss extensions and applications of the work presented in the Econometrics Seminar. An informal Econometrics Prospectus Lunch, funded by the Cowles Foundation, is intended primarily for our graduate students to assist them in moving forward with their own research agendas, to prepare them for writing a dissertation prospectus, and to report on ideas and early findings. The Lunch is a convenient venue also for our former students who are working in government or industry to report on their work in these sectors.

Economic history has long been an important part of the core curriculum in the graduate program at Yale. For on the program in economic history, click here.

We offer to graduate-level courses intended for economics PhD students every year. Econ 580 focuses on Europe. Econ 581 deals with the United States. In addition, we typically have one or long-term visitors in residence, and these people offer courses other times and places. Economics Ph.D. students doing a field in economic history may also be interested in taking courses offered by the History Department. These courses do not satisfy the PhD requirement, and they will not be part of the basic course offerings for a field in the Economic Department, but they can be useful additions for students in some areas.

Students in the economics Ph.D. program must have completed either Econ 580 or Econ 581 before they can be admitted to candidacy. Note that Econ 585 does not satisfy this requirement.

Microeconomic Theory I (Econ 500a) and II (Econ 501b) is a two course core sequence for all students in the Ph.D. program. Material covered includes consumer and producer theory, choice under uncertainty, general equilibrium theory, game theory, information economics and mechanism design. The sequence is designed to provide a thorough of microeconomic tools that will be used by Ph.D. students in all fields it also prepares students for the comprehensive exams taken at the end of the first year in the program.

Advanced Microeconomics I (Econ 520a) and II (Econ 521b) is a two course sequence examining in depth foundational issues in game theory, information economics, mechanism design and social choice.

Mathematical Economics I (Econ 530a) and II (Econ 531b) is a two course sequence focussed on issues in general equilibrium theory. Typically, these sequences are taken by Ph.D. students in the second year, including both those who will end up specializing in microeconomic theory and those who will do applied research using advanced tools of microeconomic analysis.

The first year sequence (Econ 500a and 501b) is designed for first year students in the Economics Ph.D. program. Other students should seek the permission of the instructor. The first year sequence is a prerequisite for the second year courses (Econ 520a, 521b, 530a, 531b).

— ECON 500 Microeconomic Theory I — ECON 501b: Microeconomic Theory II — ECON 520 Advanced Microeconomics I — ECON 521b: Advanced Microeconomics II — ECON 530 Mathematical Economics I — ECON 531b: Mathematical Economics II.

In microeconomic theory, mathematics and statistics represent important languages and techniques to express our ideas. We therefore recommend that graduate students in economic theory at Yale take or audit a stream of mathematics and statistics classes. If you take one course a term starting in the second year on, then by the end of the fifth year you will have at least eight important courses to support your ability to develop, analyze, and solve mathematical models. At Yale, there are a number of courses we can recommend and a partial list is the following:.

Yale has played a central role in the development of modern Financial Economics, ever since James Tobin created the Capital Asset Pricing Model and championed the general equilibrium approach to macroeconomics and finance. Yale is an exciting place to do research in finance.

The core sequences in Microeconomics (Econ 500a and 501b) and Macroeconomics (Econ 510a and 511b) provide our students with the first exposure to core ideas in Financial Economics. Students interested in Financial Economics as a field can take Econ 530a and Econ 531b, a full second-year sequence that studies frontier topics, with particular emphasis on macro-finance, financial theory, and general equilibium. Topics covered in Mathematical Economics I and II include general equilibrium with incomplete markets (GEI), collateral equilibrium and the leverage cycle, default and punishment, adverse selection and moral hazard in general equilibrium, monetary equilibrium, asset price bubbles, limits to arbitrage, liquidity and credit crunches, intermediation and banking, financial regulation, dispersed information and learning in financial markets, and financial recessions.

In addition to the sequence offered by the Department, our students have access to the multiple advanced courses offered by the finance group at the School of Management. These courses include Financial Economics I (MGMT 740), Household Finance (MGMT 744), Behavioral and Empirical Corporate Finance (MGMT 748). Our students often work on cutting-edge topics at the intersection of Financial Economics and other fields, including Macroeconomics, Economic Theory, or Industrial Organization, among others.

There is a weekly Finance Workshop, hosted at the School of Management, in which outside speakers make presentations. The Macroeconomics and Theory weekly workshops often host Finance related outside speakers.

Industrial Organization at Yale is a strong and distinctive group.

This yields a highly collaborative and collegial research environment. Regular formal and informal interactions with the IO-based Economics group at the School of Management (SOM) broadens the group, particularly in areas of policy interest, creating a larger, vibrant IO community. In recent years, the field has benefited greatly from the formation and growth of the Structural Microeconomics program at the Cowles Foundation.

We offer a two semester sequence (Econ 600 and 601) that covers a broad range of topics. The first semester begins by locating the study of industrial organization within the broader research traditions of economics and related social sciences. Alternative theories of decision making, of organizational behavior, and of market evolution are sketched and contrasted with standard neoclassical theories. The semester includes a detailed examination of the determinants and consequences of industrial market structure. The second semester moves on to policy issues including public control of utilities and antitrust regulation, as well as modeling of dynamic oligopoly, collusion and technological change.

There is also an IO Prospectus Workshop primarily for Yale graduate students presenting thesis work at various stages of development.

The department offers a two semester sequence in Labor Economics (630 and 631). The first semester of the sequence includes topics such as static and dynamic approaches to demand, human capital and wage determination, wage income inequality, unemployment and minimum wages, matching and job turnover, implicit contract theory, and the efficiency wage hypothesis, while the second semester covers static and dynamic models of labor firm-specific training, compensating wage differentials, discrimination, household production, bargaining models of household behavior, intergenerational transfers, and mobility.

The graduate macro sequence consists of the two core courses (510 and 511) and two advanced courses (525 and 526). The core courses analyze short-run determination of aggregate employment, income, investment, saving, prices, interest rates, asset prices, as well as growth, fiscal and monetary policy. To this purpose, core courses extensively train students in the methodology of modern dynamic economics: Dynamic Programming, Vector Autoregressions, Equilibrium concepts, computational methods. The advanced courses are topical and track frontier research in macroeconomics. Prominent examples of recently covered topics are heterogeneous agent economics with adjustment costs to capital and labor, wealth inequality in incomplete market economies with financial market imperfections, optimal taxation, search theory of unemployment.

Political Economy research is presented every week in the Leitner Political Economy Seminar, as well as in several of the regular economics seminars including Macro, International, and Labor Public.

The department offers a two semester sequence in Public Finance (680 and 681). The sequence covers theories of government provision of public goods, moral hazard, and adverse selection. Empirical methodologies will vary from standard reduced form techniques to structural estimation. Substantive areas will include health economics, taxation, social security, and non-health components of government spending.

The mission of the program in Economics is to acquaint students with the economic aspects of modern society, to familiarize them with techniques for the analysis of contemporary economic problems, and to develop in them an ability to exercise judgment in evaluating public policy. The program introduces students to macro and microeconomic theory, teaches them to think and write clearly economic problems and policy issues and to the basic tools of economic analysis. The major provides an excellent background for those who plan careers in government and private enterprise as well as those pursuing graduate degrees in professional schools or in the field of economics.

The primary objective of the graduate program is to educate students as research economists. In the process, students also acquire the background and skills necessary for careers as university teachers and as practitioners of economics. The curriculum includes a comprehensive treatment of modern theory and empirical techniques. Currently, 20 to 25 students are admitted each year.

Graduate programs in economics are designed to ensure that students receive a thorough grounding in the methodology of theoretical and empirical economics, while at the same time providing specialized training in a wide variety of subfields and a broad understanding of associated institutional structures. Toward these ends, the program is arranged so that the student has little choice in the curriculum at the outset but considerable latitude later on.

Students admitted to graduate standing in the department are expected to have a strong background in college-level economics, mathematics, and statistics. Preparation ordinarily consists of a college major in economics, a year-long calculus sequence that includes multivariate analysis, a course in linear algebra, and a rigorous course in probability and statistics.

The purpose of the master program is to further develop knowledge and skills in Economics and to prepare students for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is achieved through completion of courses, in the primary field as well as related areas, and experience with independent work and specialization.

The Ph.D. is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research and analysis in Economics. Through completion of advanced course work and rigorous skills training, the doctoral program prepares students to make original contributions to the knowledge of Economics and and to interpret and present the results of such research.

The department awards a number of fellowships for graduate study. Many first-year and a few second or third-year students are typically awarded full fellowships, including a stipend and tuition. Students in their final job market year are encouraged to for SIEPR dissertation research fellowships. All students whose records justify continuation in the program may be assured support for the second through fifth years in the form of employment as a teaching or research assistant. These half-time appointments provide a stipend and tuition allowance. Entering students are not normally eligible for research or teaching assistantships.

All courses counting toward the economics major must be taken for a letter grade and a GPA in the major of 2.0 (C) or better must be achieved.

The Law and Economics of the World Trading System (not offered this year).

Students may not count units from both ECON 135 and ECON 140 Introduction to Financial Economics towards their major as the courses are too similar in content.

A maximum of 10 units of transfer credit or of ECON 139D Directed Reading, may be taken under this section. Suitable transfer credit must be approved in writing by the Director of Studies. Advanced majors with strong quantitative preparation may enroll in graduate (200-level) courses with permission of the Director of Studies and the course instructor. Some courses offered by Overseas Studies may be counted towards this requirement. The department does not give credit for internships.

No courses receiving Economics credit under the preceding requirements may be taken credit no credit, and 55 of the 80 units required for the major must be taken at Stanford in California.

Students scoring a 5 on both the advanced placement microeconomics and advanced placement macroeconomics exam may petition the Director of Studies to have the ECON 1 Principles of Economics course requirement waived. Students do not receive units credit for placing out of ECON 1 Principles of Economics.

To use transfer credit in partial satisfaction of the requirements, the student must obtain written consent from the department Director of Study, who establishes the amount of credit to be granted toward the department requirements (see the Information Book for Economics Majors). Students must have completed all Stanford prerequisites for approved transfer credit courses in order to use those courses towards the Economics major.

Flexible Tracks listings of upper-division economics courses are provided to emphasize the diverse interests of Economics majors. Flexible Tracks do not add major requirements. Flexible Tracks may be examined in the department Information Book for Economics Majors. Flexible Tracks are provided for the following areas of emphasis (field courses are in bold):.

The honors program offers an opportunity for independent research, creativity, and achievement. It is designed to encourage a intensive study of economics than is required for the normal major, with course and research work of exceptional quality. Honors students submit their theses in writing and present them during the Honors Research Symposium during Spring Quarter. The honors program requires:.

Achieving a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 for the required courses of the Economics major (excluding ECON 139D Directed Reading and ECON 199D Honors Thesis Research). See details in the Information Book for Economics Majors.

Candidates must write an honors thesis in their senior year for at least one unit and up to nine units of credit in their thesis adviser section of ECON 199D Honors Thesis Research. Additionally, winter registration for one unit of Honors Thesis Research, under the Director of the Honors Program section number is mandatory for all honors students. Units of ECON 199D Honors Thesis Research do not count toward the course work requirements for the basic economics major, or in the computation of the GPA requirement for honors.

Prospective candidates for the honors program should submit an application to the director no later than October 20 for Spring Quarter degree conferral. Also required, in the same quarter, is a three-page thesis proposal that must be approved by the thesis adviser.

The minor in Economics has two main goals: to acquaint students with the rudiments of micro and macroeconomic theory that are required of all majors and to allow students to build competence in the application of this theory to two fields of economics of their choosing, and the opportunity to specialize further in any one of these fields by taking one additional advanced course in the Economics.

Students may not count units from both ECON 135 and ECON 140 Introduction to Financial Economics towards their minor as the courses are too similar in content.

At least 20 out of the 35 units for the minor must be taken at Stanford. Students must have completed all Stanford prerequisites for approved transfer credit courses in order to use those courses towards the Economics minor.

No courses receiving Economics credit under the preceding requirements may be taken credit no credit. The combined total of all units for the minor must equate to the grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 (C) or better.

Students must complete their declaration of the minor no later than the last day of the preceding quarter before their degree conferral.

University requirements for the master degree are described in the Graduate Degrees section of this bulletin.

The department does not admit students who plan to terminate their graduate study with the M.A. degree. Students must be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Stanford before adding the Economics M.A. degree. Economics students may, but need not, elect to add this degree in addition to their current Ph.D. degree after they have been enrolled at Stanford for at least one quarter. A master option is also available to currently enrolled Ph.D. candidates from other departments.

In order to add this degree to their program plan, current Ph.D. students should submit a Graduate Authorization Petition via Axess and submit an M.A. program proposal form to the student services manager for approval. Students must have completed the Stanford requirements for a B.A. in Economics or approximately equivalent training. Since students are required to take some of the same courses as Ph.D. candidates, similar preparation in mathematics and statistics generally is expected before the petition to add the M.A. will be approved.

Completing, at Stanford, at least 45 units of credit beyond those required for the bachelor degree, of which at least 40 units must be in the Economics. Students must complete ECON 202 Microeconomics I or ECON 202N Microeconomics I For Non-Economics PhDs and at least three other 200-level lecture courses. They must receive a grade of 'B-' or better in ECON 202 Microeconomics I or ECON 202N Microeconomics I For Non-Economics PhDs. courses must be numbered 105 or higher (with the exception of the ECON 102A Introduction to Statistical Methods (Postcalculus) for Social Scientists,ECON 102B Applied Econometrics,ECON 102C Advanced Topics in Econometrics sequence listed below). No seminar courses numbered 300 or above can be counted.

Submitting two term papers (or a thesis of sufficient quality). At least one of these papers must be deemed to represent graduate-level work. Normally, this means that it is written in connection with a 200-level course. In lieu of this paper requirement, students may elect to take two additional 200 level Economics courses.

A grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 must be maintained for all master level work. All courses must be taken for a letter grade.

University requirements for the Ph.D. are described in the Graduate Degrees section of this bulletin.

Students admitted to graduate standing in the department are expected to have a strong background in college-level economics, mathematics, and statistics. Preparation ordinarily consists of a college major in economics, a year-long calculus sequence that includes multivariate analysis, a course in linear algebra, and a rigorous course in probability and statistics. When deemed appropriate, a student may be required to complete the necessary background preparation at Stanford. All students take a common core curriculum at the outset and later branch out into the desired fields of specialization.

Well-prepared students should anticipate spending, with some overlap, approximately two years in course work and another two years in seminars, independent study, and dissertation research. A minimum of 135 completed units is required for the degree. The goal is to complete the program in four years, although some types of research programs may require at least five years to complete. The department has a strong commitment to guiding students through the program expeditiously.

Questions and petitions concerning the program and the admissions process should be addressed to the Director of Graduate Study, who has responsibility for administering the graduate program.

Specific requirements are best discussed in two stages, the first consisting of requirements for admission to candidacy and the second involving further requirements for earning the degree.

To pass a sequence, an overall grade of ‘B’ is required for the sequence, and individual course grades must be ‘B-’ or better. Petitions to substitute courses or waive out of any core course must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Study at least two weeks before the start of the term.

Completing the requirements in two additional advanced fields of specialization from the list below or, if approved in advance by the Director of Graduate Study, in one such field together with a substantial amount of work toward a second field taught in a related department (e.g. GSB Finance). Students may request permission from the Director of Graduate Study to create a field not listed as an advanced field below, such as International Finance or Law Economics. Requirements for completing a field can usually be satisfied by completing two courses and a paper, although students in some fields may be advised to add a third course, which can then be counted toward the distribution requirement discussed later. A minimum grade average of B is required to pass a field sequence. Individual course grades cannot be less than a B in order to count for field course credit. Specific requirements for completing each field can be found on the Economics department website.

Completing a candidacy paper, normally written in conjunction with one of the advanced specialty fields selected above. Submission of this paper or another research paper is required by the first day of Autumn Quarter of the third year. Satisfactory presentation of this paper is required in the Autumn quarter third year seminar. It is expected that the student meet, and indeed exceed, the above standards by the end of the first quarter in the third year of residency. When this is not possible for any reason, the Director of Graduate Study should be consulted as early as possible during the third year.

Once it is deemed that the above standards have been met, the student should complete the Application for Candidacy for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. If approved, candidacy remains valid for five years (although it can be terminated earlier by the department if progress is deficient) it can be renewed or extended beyond this period only under unusual circumstances. Failure to advance to candidacy results in dismissal from the program.

Distribution Requirement: Students must complete four other graduate-level courses meeting the following requirements:.

With advance approval of the Director of Graduate Study, some of these distribution courses may be drawn from related fields taught in other departments. However, including courses taken to meet either the specialization or distribution requirements, no than two courses in total may be taken outside the Economics department.

Seminar Participation: Each student is expected to participate in at least two all-year research seminars by the end of the fourth year of residence. Normally, participation in a seminar requires one or oral presentations and the submission of a research paper (which, however, need not be completely separate from dissertation research). Detailed information on fulfilling the seminar requirements can be found on the Economics department website.

The student is advised to initiate this process as early as possible.

To receive credit in the applied econometrics subfield, students must complete ECON 273 and either ECON 275 or ECON 276. Students must also complete a course or set of courses that is empirically oriented. The last requirements must be approved by the Director of Graduate Study in consultation with the instructor of 275 or 276.

To receive credit for this field, students must complete two courses from the following list. Students are required to develop and present a series of research ideas throughout each course. Regular attendance at the Development Economics workshop and the Development student workshop is required.

Economics of Technology and Innovation (not offered this year).

Advanced Topics in Game Theory and Information Economics.

To receive credit for the field, students must complete the two courses below unless they have received approval for a substitute course. At the discretion of the instructors of 241 and 242, students may be able to substitute a graduate level course on social insurance, health economics, environmental economics or another closely related topic. Substitute courses must be approved in advance. Regular attendance at the Public Economics workshop is required to receive credit for the field.

To be recommended for the Ph.D. degree with Economics as a minor subject, a student must qualify in three fields of economics, at least one of which must be in the core economics sequence (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics). The standard of achievement in these fields is the same for minor as for major candidates, including minimum grade requirements, paper submissions and research presentations where appropriate. All courses used for the Ph.D. minor must be taken for a letter grade.

Joint Degree Programs in Economics with the School of Law.

The Economics and the School of Law offer a joint program leading to either a J.D. degree combined with an M.A. degree in Economics, or to a J.D. degree combined with a Ph.D. in Economics.

Students interested in either joint degree program must and gain entrance separately to the School of Law and the Economics and, as an additional step, must secure permission from both academic units to pursue degrees in those units as part of a joint degree program. Interest in either joint degree program should be noted on the student admission applications and may be considered by the admission committee of each program. Alternatively, an enrolled student in either the Law School or the Economics department may for admission to the other program and for joint degree status in both academic units after commencing study in either program.

Joint degree students may elect to begin their course of study in either the School of Law or the Economics. Students must be enrolled full time in the Law School for the first year of law school, and, at some point during the joint program, may be required to devote one or quarters largely or exclusively to studies in the Economics program regardless of whether enrollment at that time is in the Law School or in the Economics. At all other times, enrollment may be in the graduate school or the Law School, and students may choose courses from either program regardless of where enrolled. Students must satisfy the requirements for both the J.D. and the M.A. or Ph.D. degrees as specified in this bulletin or by the School of Law.

The Law School approves courses from the Economics Department that may count toward the J.D. degree, and the Economics department approves courses from the Law School that may count toward the M.A. or Ph.D. degree in Economics. In either case, approval may consist of a list applicable to all joint degree students or may be tailored to each individual student program. The list may differ depending on whether the student is pursuing an M.A. or a Ph.D. in Economics.

In the case of a J.D. M.A. program, no than 45 quarter hours of approved courses may be counted toward both degrees. In the case of a J.D. Ph.D. program, no than 54 quarter hours of approved courses may be counted toward both degrees. In either case, no than 36 quarter hours of courses that originate outside the Law School may count toward the Law degree. To the extent that courses under this joint degree program originate outside the Law School but count toward the Law degree, the Law School credits permitted under Section 17(1) of the Law School Regulations shall be reduced on a unit-per-unit basis, but not below zero. The maximum number of Law School credits that may be counted toward the M.A. or the Ph.D. in Economics is the greater of: (a) 5 quarter hours in the case of the M.A. and 10 quarter hours in the case of the Ph.D. (b) the maximum number of hours from courses outside of the department that M.A. or Ph.D. candidates in Economics are permitted to count toward the applicable degree under general departmental guidelines or in the case of a particular student individual program.

Joint Degree Program in Ph.D. in Economics and Master of Public Policy.

The Ph.D. M.P.P. joint degree is designed for students who wish to prepare themselves for careers in areas relating to both policy and economics. Students interested in this degree first Economics Department, indicating an interest in the joint program. There is one admissions application and one fee. If the decision is made by the department to admit the applicant, the file is then forwarded to the M.P.P. program. An admission decision, based on the information in the Ph.D. application, is made promptly, and the department informs the student of the decision.

Students may also M.P.P. after having commenced study in the Economics Department at Stanford, by first receiving the consent of the Director of Graduate Studies in Economics and then applying to the Public Policy program.

Tuition and financial aid arrangements are made through the Economics Department.

Other programs leading to dual degrees may be arranged. For example, the Ph.D. in Economics combines with one or two years of study in the School of Law, leading to the nonprofessional Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) degree. A dual degree program does not permit counting any courses toward both the Economics and the Law degrees.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the Graduate Advising section of this bulletin.

The Economics is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement by both the adviser and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the adviser and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program. Outlined below are a list of specific responsibilities of the various advising relationships, year by year:.

An extensive and detailed guide to the adviser advisee relationship and responsibilities appears in the department Graduate Student Handbook.

Development Economics: An Introduction from the Ground Up.

Pirates, Soccer, and Dons: A Sampler of Economics and Data Science in Spain.

The Future of Globalization: Economics, Politics and the Environment.

This is an introductory course in economics. We will cover both microeconomics (investigating decisions by individuals and firms) and macroeconomics (examining the economy as a whole). The primary goal is to develop and then build on your understanding of the analytical tools and approaches used by economists. This will help you to interpret economic news and economic data at a much deeper level while also forming your own opinions on economic issues. The course will also provide a strong foundation for those of you who want to continue on with intermediate microeconomics and or intermediate macroeconomics and possibly beyond. In Spring 2018-2019 ECON 1 will use all class time for team-based learning instead of lectures class attendance will be mandatory, and enrollment will be limited to 120 students.

May be repeated for credit. Pre-requisites: none.

Seminar in applied economics with focus on the microcosm of Silicon Valley, how growth companies are originated, managed and financed from start-up to IPO. Round-table discussion format. Applicable to those students with an interest in technology company formation, growth and finance including interaction with Wall Street. Enrollment limited to 10 juniors, seniors and co-term students.

Welfare-reform legislation passed by the federal government in the mid-1990s heralded a dramatic step in the movement that has been termed the devolution revolution, which is again being discussed in the context of healthcare reform. The centerpiece of devolution is the transfer of responsibilities for antipoverty programs to the states. We will explore the effects of these reforms and the role that devolution plays in the ongoing debates over the designs of programs that make up America social safety net. In addition to discussing conventional welfare programs (e.g., Medicaid, food stamps, TANF, SSI) and other governmental policies assisting low-income families (EITC, minimum wages), we will examine the trends in governmental spending on anti-poverty programs and how our nation defines poverty and eligibility for income support. We will economics principles throughout to understand the effectiveness of America antipoverty programs and their consequences on the behavior and circumstances of families. Prerequisites: A basic understanding knowledge of introductory economics is recommended.

The Economics of Immigration in the US: Past and Present.

The United States has long been perceived as a land of opportunity for immigrants. Yet, both in the past and today, policy makers have often expressed concerns that immigrants fail to integrate into US society and lower wages for existing workers. There is an increasingly heated debate how strict migration policy should be. This debate is rarely based on discussion of facts immigrants assimilation. This class will review the literature on historical and contemporary migrant flows. We will tackle three major questions in the economics of immigration: whether immigrants were positively or negatively selected from their sending countries how immigrants assimilated into the US economy and society and what effects that immigration may have on the economy, including the effect of immigration on native employment and wages. In each case, we will present studies covering the two main eras of US immigration history, the Age of Mass Migration from Europe (1850-1920) and the recent period of renewed mass migration from Asia and Latin America. Students will participate in a final project, which could include developing their own recommendations for design immigration policy in the US. Prerequisite: Completion of ECON 1 in a previous quarter concurrent enrollment in ECON 1 in Winter Quarter approved ECON 1 waiver on file with the Economics.

Examines the intimate relationship between environmental quality and the production and consumption of energy. Assesses the economics efficiency and political economy implications of a number of current topics in energy and environmental economics. Topics include: the economic theory of exhaustible resources, Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) control (cap and trade mechanisms and carbon fees), GHG emissions offsets, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the smart transmission grid for electricity, nuclear energy and nuclear waste, the real cost of renewable energy, natural gas and coal-fired electricity production, the global coal and natural gas markets, Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) and Low-Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS), Energy Efficiency Investments and Demand Response, and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). For all topics, there will be reading to explain the economics and engineering behind the topic and class discussion to clarify and elaborate on this interaction. Prerequisite: ECON 1 is recommended.

Columbia’s PhD program in Economics is a STEM-designated program, F-1 visa holders within the PhD program are eligible to apply for the F-1 STEM OPT Extension.

In their first year, students take two-semester sequences in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. They also take a course in mathematical methods in the fall semester and a course called Perspectives in the spring which both critically examines mainstream approaches to economic theory and provides students with in-depth practical exposure to the design and execution of empirical research in economics.

In their second year, students choose two fields of concentration and take a sequence of courses in each of these fields. Students also write a 2nd-year paper and start attending a colloquium where they present their own research.

After their second year, students spend most of their time conducting their own research with the advice of faculty in the Department. From the third year onward, students are required to present in a colloquium each semester. Students are strongly encouraged to attend a workshop in the area of their specialization.

Students in their third year write a 3rd-year paper. Before the end of their 4th year, students defend a dissertation proposal before a committee of at least three faculty members.

Most students defend their theses after either 5 or 6 years in the program.

The range of study in economics is quite broad and includes the traditional topics of micro-analysis and macro-analysis such as price theory, market structure, industrial organization, the banking system, and the flow of national income. Students take advantage of a wide range of course offerings in the Economics at the University of Chicago and at Chicago Booth, writing their dissertations in industrial organization, labor economics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, or related areas.

For details on economics as a dissertation area, see General Examination Requirements By Area in the PhD Program Guidebook (PDF).

Year after year, our top-ranked PhD program sets the standard for graduate economics training across the country.

Our doctoral program enrolls 20-24 full-time students each year and students complete their degree in five to six years. Students undertake core coursework in microeconomic theory, macroeconomics, and econometrics, and are expected to complete two major and two minor fields in economics.

Students are admitted to the program once per year for entry in the fall. The online application opens on September 15 and closes on December 15.

Our PhD graduates go on to teach in leading economics departments, business schools, and schools of public policy, or pursue influential careers with organizations and businesses around the world.

The Business Economics & Public Policy (BEPP) course explores the economics and politics of public policy to provide an analytic framework for considering why, how, and with what success failure government intervenes in a variety of policy areas. Particular attention will be paid to important policy issues relating to taxation, social security, low-income assistance, health insurance, education (both K-12 and higher ed), the environment, and government deficits. The costs and benefits of alternative policies will be explored along with the distribution of responsibilities between the federal, state and local governments. While the course will focus primarily on U.S. policies, the topics covered (e.g. tax reform, deficits versus austerity, etc.) are currently at the center of the policy debate in many other industrialized countries as well.

BEPP 207 Economics for the Next Hundred Years.

This course is designed for students interested in the economics and operations of housing markets. It is primarily a U.S. focused course, but does include a limited amount of international material for comparative purposes. This course presumes knowledge of intermediate economics, as we will that knowledge throughout the semester. For Wharton students, this means you must have passed BEPP 250 (undergrads) or MGEC 611 and MGEC 612 (MBAs). Non-Wharton students should have taken the equivalent course in the College.

BEPP 220 Behavioral Economics, Markets, and Public Policy.

Behavioral economics has revealed a variety of systematic ways in which people deviate from being perfectly selfish, rational, optimizing agents. These findings have important implications for government policy and firm behavior. This course will explore these implications by answering two main questions: (1) what does behavorial economics imply for when and how the government should intervene in markets (2) What does behavioral economics imply for firms' pricing and production decisions The course will present the standard economic approaches to answering these questions and then explore how answers change when we consider that people act in behavioral ways. Towards the end of the course, we will investigate specific policy questions, allowing us to debate solutions while hearing from policy makers operating in a world of behavioral agents.

This course will introduce you to managerial economics which is the application of microeconomic theory to managerial decision-making. Microeconomic theory is a remarkably useful body of ideas for understanding and analyzing the behavior of individuals and firms in a variety of economic settings. The goal of the course is for you to understand this body of theory well enough so that you can effectively analyze managerial (and other) problems in an economic framework. While this is a tools course, we will cover many real-world applications, particularly business applications, so that you can witness the usefulness of these tools and acquire the skills to use them yourself. Strategic interaction is explored both in product markets and auctions. Finally, the challenges created by asymmetric information both in the market and within the firm are investigated.

BEPP 263 Environmental Energy Economics and Policy.

This course examines environmental and energy issues from an economist perspective. Over the last several decades, energy markets have become some of the most dynamic markets of the world economy, as they experienced a shift from heavy regulation to market-driven incentives. First, we look at scarcity pricing and market power in electricity and gasoline markets. We then study oil and gas markets, with an emphasis on optimal extraction and pricing, and geopolitical risks that investors in hydrocarbon resources face. We then shift gears to the sources of environmental problems, and how policy makers can intervene to solve some of these problems. We talk the economic rationale for a broad range of possible policies: environmental taxes, subsidies, performance standards and cap-and-trade. In doing so, we discuss fundamental concepts in environmental economics, such as externalities, valuation of the environment and the challenge of designing international agreements. At the end of the course, there will be special attention for the economics and finance of renewable energy and policies to foster its growth. Finally, we discuss the transportation sector, and analyze heavily debated policies such as fuel-economy standards and subsidies for green vehicles.

BEPP 620 Behavioral Economics, Markets and Public Policy.

This course is designed for students interested in the economics and operations of housing markets. It is primarily a U.S. focused course, but does include a limited amount of international material for comparative purposes. This course presumes knowledge of intermediate economics, as we will that knowledge throughout the semester. For Wharton students, this means you must have passed BEPP 250 (undergrads) or MGEC 611 MGEC612 (MBAs). Non-Wharton students should have taken the equivalent course in the College.

Over the last several decades, energy markets have become some of the most dynamic markets of the world economy. Traditional fossil fuel and electricity markets have been seen a partial shift from heavy regulation to market-driven incentives, while rising environmental concerns have led to a wide array of new regulations and environmental markets . The growth of renewable energy could be another source of rapid change, but brings with it a whole new set of tecnological and policy challenges. This changing energy landscape requires quick adaptation from energy companies, but also offers opportunities to turn regulations into new business. The objective of this course is to provide students with the economist perspective on a broad range of topics that professionals in the energy industry will encounter. Topics include the effect of competition, market power and scarcity on energy prices, the impact of deregulation on electricity and fossil fuel markets, extraction and pricing of oil and gas, geopolitical uncertainty and risk in hydrocarbon investments, the environmental impact and policies related to the energy sector, environmental cap-and-trade markets, energy efficiency, the economics and finance of renewable energy, and recent developments in the transportation sector.

BEPP 770 Introduction to Business Economics and Public Policy.

This course explores the economics and politics of public policy to provide an analytic framework for considering why, how, and with what success failure government intervenes in a variety of policy areas. Particular attention will be paid to important policy issues relating to taxation, social security, low-income assistance, health insurance, education (both K-12 and higher ed), the environment, and government deficits. The costs and benefits of alternative policies will be explored along with the distribution of responsibilities between the federal, state, and local governments. While the course will focus primarily on U.S. policies, the topics covered (e.g. tax reform, deficits versus austerity, etc.) are currently at the center of the policy debate in many other industrialized countries as well.

Of the many ways that doctoral students typically learn do research, two that are important are watching others give seminar presentations (as in Applied Economics Seminars) and presenting one own research. The BEPP 900 course provides a venue for the latter. Wharton doctoral students enrolled in this course present applied economics research. Presentations both of papers assigned for other classes and of research leading toward a dissertation are appropriate in BEPP 900. This course aims to help students further develop a hands-on understanding of the research process. All doctoral students with applied microeconomic interests are encouraged to attend and present. Second and third year Applied Economic Ph.D. students are required to enroll in BEPP 900 and receive one-semester credit per year of participation.

This course will help prepare you to run your own economics laboratory and field experiments. Experimental methods have been widely adopted by economists to develop new insights, and some economic theories and hypotheses are uniquely well-suited for testing with experimental tools and data. Achieving high internal and external validity requires careful experimental design. Substantive areas of application in the course will include market equilibrium, asset bubbles, learning in games, public good provision, and labor market relationships. Additional topics may include biases in individual decision-making field experiments in development economics and happiness, neuroeconomics, and behavioral experimental welfare economics. Economists' typical interests in strategic and market-based interactions raise particular methodological challenges and opportunities.

This course examines econometric research on a variety of topics related to public policy, with the goal of preparing students to undertake academic-caliber research. The course is not an econometrics or statistics course per se rather, it focuses on research designs with observational data and how econometric techniques are applied in practice. The course aims to train students to do applied economic research that involves measuring effects of theoretical or practical interest. It proceeds in two major parts. The first part examines endogeneity and inference causal relationships, instrumental variables methods and critiques, and panel data methods. The second part of the course addresses tructural' econometric modeling. Topics covered in this part include sorting and selection, entry models, and counterfactual analyses of policy changes. The course proceeds by analyzing, in detail, approximately 24 well-known empirical research papers in applied economics or related fields. These include public economics and tax policy, labor economics, law and economics, health care policy, industrial organization and competition, transportation demand and policy, and others.

The objective of this course is to introduce graduate students to computational approaches for solving economic models. We will formulate economic problems in computationally tractable form and use techniques from numerical analysis to solve them. Examples of computational techniques in the current economics literature as well as discuss areas where these techniques may be useful in future research will be disclosed. We will pay particular attention to methods for solving dynamic optimization problems and computing equilibria of games. The substantive applications will cover a wide range of problems including industrial organization, game theory, macroecomics, finance, and econometrics.

BEPP 9 Public Economics: Social Insurance and Government Expenditures.

Prerequisites: Microeconomics, Economics 701 and 703. Any deviation from that must be approved by the Instructor.

The goal of this course is to help doctoral students develop critical thinking skills through both seminar participation and writing of referee reports. To this end students will attend the Wharton Applied Economics each Wednesday at noon seminar when it meets prepare two written referee reports on WAE papers per semester, due before the seminar is presented after attending the seminar and the ensuing discussion of the paper students will prepare follow-up evaluations of their referee report reports, due one week after the seminar.

This course focuses on empirical methods and applications of research topics in Industrial Organization. Although not exclusively, the course will focus mostly on the application of econometric techniques used to study specific markets and antitrust policies. The topics that will be covered include the evaluationof market power and mergers, product differentiation, investment and innovation, collusion, price discrimination, vertical relations, entry and product positioning, and the dynamics of industries. The course will also discuss research methodologies related to microeconomic theory, computational methods, and econometric analysis. The applicability of the techniques goes beyond the field of Industrial Organization, and include the Labor, Health, Trade and Public economics.

Prerequisites: Doctoral level economics (e.g. ECON 701, 703 or ECON 680, 682).

The Master Program in Economics and Computation is a joint program between the departments of Economics and Computer Science to train and develop programming skills linked to economics and related areas to prepare graduates for Ph.D. studies or related professions. Students will study both economics and computer science coursework in depth, and must pass a final exam administered by their committees covering a portfolio of learning and research activities carried out during their master’s studies. Numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary research are possible through the connections with scholars at the Fuqua School of Business, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, the Sanford School of Public Policy, the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute, and other departments, institutes, and local universities. Graduates will be awarded an M.S. degree in Economics and Computation.

Because MSEC graduates study sophisticated computational and analytical tools beyond the level covered in and professional schools, they have a distinct advantage when proceeding to Ph.D. programs and other careers featuring quantitative analysis and forecasting.

Economics and Computation: Master Admissions and Enrollment Statistics.

Students take two years of course work. The first year is comprised of two semesters each of microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, and mathematical methods, and one-semester courses in statistics and econometrics. four in the fall semester and three in the spring semester. Students may also take relevant courses in related departments, such as mathematics, mathematical sciences, political science, and public health. The compulsory first-year courses are:.

A dissertation proposal is due during the sixth term. The candidate must submit the dissertation in final typed form at least three weeks before the date of the Graduate Board Oral Examination. Though it is feasible to finish in four years, it is typical to complete the PhD in five or six years.

The department does not admit students from outside JHU who intend to work only for an MA However, it does offer this degree as an intermediate step toward the PhD or as a final degree to some of those who do not complete their doctoral work.

View the Graduate Student Handbook for students in the Economics (revised August 2022).