Ph.D. Degree Requirements
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. in Economics requires completion of coursework, preliminary examinations, a third-year paper, and a defended dissertation on original research. Students generally take five years to complete the degree. Please see below for additional details about each requirement.
Coursework Requirements
- First year: Students take mandatory classes in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and economic history.
- Second year: Students choose from several field courses to fit their specialization.
- Third year: Some students may finish coursework during this year.
Preliminary Examinations
At the end of the first year in the program, students take preliminary examinations in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. A preliminary exam can be repeated once.
Third-Year Paper
After taking some field classes, students work under the guidance of a faculty member on their first independent research paper. This paper must be submitted in the second semester of the third year.
Dissertation
The dissertation is the final step towards the Ph.D. and consists of three parts:
- A significant, independent, written research project
- A preliminary defense
- A final defense.
Ph.D. Courses
Formal Courses: First-Year Core
First-year courses are mandatory for all Economics Ph.D. candidates.
ECON 8000: Selected Topics in Mathematics for Economists. Mathematics used in the analysis of economic models.
ECON 8100: Microeconomic Theory I. Analysis of resource allocation and relative prices. Behavior of individual economic units and markets. Models of technology, cost, and profit and the firm; consumer preferences, constraints, and choice; expected utility theory and risk aversion; partial equilibrium under competition and monopoly; partial equilibrium welfare and surplus.
ECON 8110: Microeconomic Theory II. Noncooperative game theory, information economics, public goods. Nash equilibrium, sequential rationality, and incomplete information; oligopoly; bargaining; adverse selection, signaling and screening; principal-agent models; externalities and public goods. Prerequisite: 8100
ECON 8200: Macroeconomic Theory I. Dynamic models and solution techniques. Development of models to study growth, business cycles, and government policies.
ECON 8210: Macroeconomic Theory II. Inflation and growth, optimal monetary and fiscal policy, overlapping-generations models and money non-neutrality. Prerequisite: 8200 or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 8300: Statistical Analysis. Statistical methods applicable to quantitative research in economics. Distribution theory, statistical inference, and selected multivariate statistical methods.
ECON 8310: Econometrics I. Analysis of specification errors in single-equation estimation of economic relations. Introduction to the estimation and application of simultaneous-equation models. Prerequisite: 8300.
ECON 8400: Introduction to Economic History. Measurement and theory. Factors associated with modern economic growth and institutional change in various countries and time periods. Prerequisites: 8100 and 8200, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
Formal Courses: Electives
After the first year, students choose from field courses (electives) that fit their specializations.
ECON 9110: Topics in Microeconomics. Advanced theory and applications. Variable topics including auctions, networks, contract theory, social choice, political economy, and market design. May be repeated for credit more than once if there is no duplication in topic. Students may enroll in more than one section of this course each semester. Prerequisite: 8110, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9210: Topics in Macroeconomics. Advanced theory and applications. May be repeated for credit more than once if there is no duplication in topic. Students may enroll in more than one section of this course each semester. Prerequisite: 8210.
ECON 8320: Econometrics II. Identification and estimation of econometric models with nonlinearity and/or endogeneity/simultaneity. Asymptotic theory and finite-sample properties of M-estimation and inference. Model building and testing of economic theory. Prerequisite: 8310.
ECON 9310: Time Series Econometrics. Methods for estimating structural vector autoregressive models and dynamic economic models, such as maximum likelihood method, Bayesian method, and generalized method of moments. Prerequisite: 8320, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9320: Non-parametric and Semi-parametric Econometrics. Non-parametric and semi-parametric methods for estimation and inference in econometric models.
ECON 9330: Microeconometrics. Econometric models and methods for dealing with micro data. Structural and reduced-form approaches. Statistical inference using the models and their applications in IO, labor, health, and elsewhere in economics and social sciences. Prerequisite: 8320, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9810: Economic Development. Contemporary theories and empirical studies. Topics include missing markets and market imperfection in developing countries; health, education, and labor market performance in low-income countries; credit, savings and insurance in rural economies; property rights, infrastructure and public provision of goods; intra-household bargaining and allocation; technology adoption; inequality and redistributive policy; and macroeconomic policy. Empirical strategies in development economics. Prerequisite: 8110, 8210, and 8310.
ECON 9820: Economic Development. Contemporary theories and empirical studies. Topics include missing markets and market imperfection in developing countries; health, education, and labor market performance in low-income countries; credit, savings and insurance in rural economies; property rights, infrastructure and public provision of goods; intra-household bargaining and allocation; technology adoption; inequality and redistributive policy; and macroeconomic policy. Strategies in development economics. Prerequisite: 8110, 8210, and 8310.
ECON 9440: Topics in Economic History: Microeconomic. Examination of various microeconomic aspects of long-term development. Topics include demographic change, labor market outcomes, the development of institutions, industrialization, migration, health, and inequality. Prerequisites: 8310 and 8400.
ECON 9450: Topics in Economic History: Macroeconomic. Macroeconomic aspects of long-term development. Economic growth, the development of financial markets and the role of financial markets in economic development, the history and evolution of monetary and fiscal policy, capital market integration, and business cycles, including the Great Depression. Prerequisites: 8310 and 8400.
ECON 9480: Health Economics. Conceptual and empirical analysis of demand for health, medical services, and insurance. Causes and consequences of various health risk behaviors. Emphasis on tools and designs of research in modern health economics. Prerequisites: 8110 and 8310, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9490: Health Economics. Conceptual and empirical analysis of the origins of health attributes; joint investments in skill and health capitals; health-related consumption and lifestyles; the value of health, life, and medical innovation; the demand for health insurance; and the supply of health care. Applied econometrics methods, with a particular emphasis on comparisons among alternative methods used in health economics research. Prerequisite: 8110 and 8310.
ECON 9500: Industrial Organization I. Primary models of imperfect competition. Topics include bargaining; monopoly and oligopoly, allowing for differentiated products and incomplete information. Applications include quality provision and product pricing; consumer search for the lowest price; auctions; network externalities; innovation and market structure; liability and market structure; the theory of the firm; and settlement bargaining. Prerequisite: 8110
ECON 9510: Industrial Organization II. Emphases on empirical research in the field and application of models. Consumer demand for differentiated products, static games of imperfect competition, dynamic models of individual choice, dynamic games of imperfect competition, and the estimation of production functions. Prerequisites: 8320 and 9500, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9600: International Trade Theory. Trade and growth. Models and empirical evidence. Commercial policy, tariffs, the terms of trade and income distribution, international factor movements, and trade agreements. Prerequisite: 8110.
ECON 9610: International Macroeconomics. Neoclassical and New Keynesian international business cycle models; interaction of asset markets and goods markets. Dynamic models of exchange rates, relative prices, and the trade balance. Monetary and fiscal policy in the open economy. Simulation and estimation of business cycle models. Prerequisite: 8210, or consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 9550: Labor Economics. Static and dynamic models of labor demand and labor supply, and models of human capital development. Applications of the theory to migration, fertility, health, wage determination, education, unionism and industrial relations, employment policies, implicit contracting and layoffs, and discrimination. Methodological problems related to the analysis of labor markets. Prerequisite: 8110 and 8310.
ECON 9560: Labor Economics. Static and dynamic models of labor demand and labor supply, and models of human capital development. Applications of the theory to topics such as migration, fertility, health, wage determination, education, unionism and industrial relations, employment policies, implicit contracting and layoffs, and discrimination. Methodological problems related to the analysis of labor markets. Prerequisite: 8110 and 8310.
ECON 9250: Theory of Money and Finance I. Advanced topics in monetary and financial economics theory and applications. Recently developed dynamic theories of money and asset pricing. Inflationary dynamics; money, welfare, and growth; money and business cycles; financial development and growth; credit market imperfections and financial crises. Prerequisites: 8210.
ECON 9260: Theory of Money and Finance II. Analyses of microeconomic foundations and general equilibrium models of money and financial markets. Theory of payments structure, capital asset pricing, rational expectations, efficient markets, and contingent claims markets. Prerequisite: 8210.
ECON 9710: Public Economics: Expenditure. Analysis of issues. Possible topics include externalities, public goods, local public goods, and aspects of public choice and voting theory. Prerequisite: 8110.
ECON 9720: Public Economics: Taxation. Analysis of issues. Possible topics include: optimal taxation theory, tax reform, tax incidence, behavioral impacts of taxation, dynamic taxation, tax competition, and the political economy of taxation. Prerequisite: 8810
Non-Formal Reading and Research Courses
ECON 8981: Reading Course. Intensive study in an area of special interest beyond regular course offerings. Prerequisites: consent of the instructor and the director of graduate studies.
ECON 8982: Reading Course. Intensive study in an area of special interest beyond regular course offerings.
ECON 8999: Non-candidate Research. Prerequisites: consent of the instructor and the Economics Director of Graduate Studies.
ECON 9890: Workshop on Economics. Research seminar to aid advanced students in the selection of thesis topics and presentation of research papers. Topics covered depend on interests of students and faculty.
ECON 9999: Ph.D. Dissertation Research.