The PhD in Economics program is academically rigorous with an applied focus. The core required courses provide a foundation in economics. The field courses allow you to tailor your studies to your own particular interests in theory and research.

Degree Requirements

Each student must complete a combination of coursework and dissertation research.

The program requires students to take at least 16 courses, including:

• seven core courses
• six elective courses in the fields of financial economics, public economics and development economics
• one course in Philosophy of Economics
• two research workshops
• participation in a one-credit teaching workshop
• at least three semesters of dissertation research

Up to eight PhD level courses can be transferred at the program director's discretion.

Qualifying Exams

The typical student will take courses in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics in their first two semesters after enrolling in the program. Upon successful completion of the core courses, a student in good academic standing will be allowed to take a qualifying exam in each of these three areas. The qualifying exams will be given twice a year. Students must pass the qualifying exams in no more than two attempts in order to continue in the program. Students must take the qualifying exams within six months of completing the core courses; any second attempt must be completed within six months of the first attempt. The coursework and the qualifying exams portion of the program must be completed within the first five years after enrollment.

Field Requirements

After the student has passed the comprehensive qualifying exams, students will continue in the program by taking additional courses in their field of specialization. The required field courses are EC 826 and EC 827 for specialization in Financial Economics, and EC 830 and EC 842 for International/Development Economics. Upon completion of six required field courses in financial economics, public economics and development economics, students in good academic standing are required to enroll in the PhD Research Workshop I, EC 880, offered during the fall semester. Students are expected to identify a research paper topic, in their areas of concentration, during the summer prior to enrolling in EC 880, and must submit a two-page description of their topic by the second week of the semester in which they enroll in EC 880. As part of the EC 880 course, students are required to write a research paper and to make a paper presentation by the end of the semester in which the course is taken. In addition, students are expected to write a field research paper, due no later than February 15th in the calendar year following completion of EC 880. The field research paper will normally be graded by two faculty members. The student must receive a grade of “B” or better on the paper to pass the field paper requirement. Following completion of EC 880, students will enroll in PhD Research Workshop II, EC 881, during the spring of their third year. Students will continue to work on their dissertation research, and discuss and present their research at the workshop.

Dissertation

Upon completion of all required coursework and after completing the field paper requirement, students in good academic standing may make a proposal defense, leading up to the defense of the dissertation. The proposal defense will be made under the supervision of a committee consisting of one advisor and two other faculty members who will serve as readers. A minimum of two members of the committee must be from the Department of Economics. The student must defend the dissertation within a period of ten years after enrollment.

Time to Completion

The program is designed so that the typical full-time student can complete the degree in four to five years. Student who have not completed the dissertation after four full years (16 courses and at least three semesters of dissertation research), enroll in EC 999, PhD Continuation for the duration of dissertation writing. EC 999 does not carry any academic credit.

Master’s Degree

A student who begins the PhD program, and who is in good academic standing, may choose to exit the PhD program and transfer credits earned towards a terminal master’s degree (MS) in Economics. In this case, the student must complete a total of 10 economics courses at the 700- or 800-level. Three of the ten courses must cover macroeconomics (EC 710 or EC 810), microeconomics (EC 720 or EC 820) and econometrics (EC 750 or EC 850). If one of these three courses is completed at the 800-level, it may not be repeated at the 700-level. Continuing PhD students in good academic standing may apply for the MS upon completion of their required coursework.

Curriculum

Core Courses

EC 800 Quantitative Foundations of Advanced Economic Analysis
EC 810 Macroeconomics I
EC 811 Macroeconomics II
EC 820 Microeconomics I
EC 821 Microeconomics II
EC 850 Econometrics I
EC 851 Econometrics II

Field Courses

Financial Economics

EC 826 Financial Economics
EC 827 Empirical Financial Economics

International/Development Economics

EC 830 International Trade Theory and
EC 842 Development Economics

Other Required Courses

EC 803 Philosophy of Economics
EC 828 Collective Choice and Tax Policy
EC 862 Applied Time Series Methods*
EC 802 Teaching Workshop (1 credit)
EC 880 PhD Research Workshop I
EC 881 PhD Research Workshop II

*Students can take EC 724, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Impact Evaluation, instead of EC 760/862.