phd economics guide

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Why Earn a PhD in Economics?

A PhD prepares you to do independent research at the frontier of Economics

How to Prepare for a PhD in Economics

Important points when preparing for Graduate school in Economics

Writing Personal Statements

Research Experience

Learn how research is a component of preparing for Graduate school

Getting Useful Letters of Recommendation

PhD Student Funding

In this section, we are going to focus on being a competitive applicant for top Economics PhD programs.  We want our very best undergraduates to have a chance to get into these highly competitive programs right after completing an undergraduate degree.  Preparing for graduate school in Economics can often be a confusing process for students.  The goal of this webpage is to illuminate this process and clarify what is required to be a competitive applicant.  While we emphasize the importance of taking difficult mathematics courses, in general, as you choose less selective Economics PhD programs, you can take fewer upper division mathematics classes and still be a competitive applicant. 

Of course, a PhD in Economics is not for everyone and we want you to pursue a career path that is right for YOU.  For great resources about careers, please see UCSD Career Services Center .

There are also many PhD and MA programs outside of economics (in finance, business, public policy, data analytics, business analytics, data science, etc.) that you may be more interested in and be well qualified for.  Please speak with our Vice Chair for Undergraduate Education and other economics faculty about any higher education program you are interested in and get their advice about what it will take for you to be to be a competitive applicant.

First Steps

A key requirement for earning a PhD is that your dissertation provides new knowledge that moves out the frontier of the profession

Why earn a PhD in Economics?

The key thing you need to know is that PhD programs in economics are highly mathematical

It is a great idea to talk to someone who was just in your shoes not too long ago!

Talking to a UCSD grad

Preparing your application.

Conducting Research with a professor or graduate student will help prepare you for graduate school and can help you gain useful letters of recommendation

Letters from faculty members who know you well are the most useful letters for gaining admission to top 30 PhD and MA programs

While the prompts vary across schools, generally a personal statement will ask you to describe your research interests, qualifications, and career goals.

More Resources

Even though most graduate programs come with funding, it is potentially a good idea to apply for outside funding as well

Read the common questions about Economics Phd programs

Advice and more information from some external sources

Helpful Links

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The complete guide to getting into an economics PhD program

Back in May, Noah wrote about the amazingly good deal that is the PhD in economics. Why? Because:

• You get a job.
• You get autonomy.
• You get intellectual fulfillment.
• The risk is low.
• Unlike an MBA, law, or medical degree, you don’t have to worry about paying the sticker price for an econ PhD:  After the first year, most schools will give you teaching assistant positions that will pay for the next several years of graduate study, and some schools will take care of your tuition and expenses even in the first year. (See Miles’s companion post  for more about costs of graduate study and how econ PhD’s future earnings makes it worthwhile, even if you can’t get a full ride.)

Of course, such a good deal won’t last long now that the story is out, so you need to act fast! Since he wrote his post , Noah has received a large number of emails asking the obvious follow-up question: “How do I get into an econ PhD program?” And Miles has been asked the same thing many times by undergraduates and other students at the University of Michigan. So here, we present together our guide for how to break into the academic Elysium called Econ PhD Land:

(Note: This guide is mainly directed toward native English speakers, or those from countries whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, such as India and most European countries. Almost all highly-ranked graduate programs teach economics in English, and we find that students learn the subtle non-mathematical skills in economics better if English is second nature. If your nationality will make admissions committees wonder about your English skills, you can either get your bachelor’s degree at a—possibly foreign—college or university where almost all classes are taught in English, or you will have to compensate by being better on other dimensions. On the bright side, if you are a native English speaker, or from a country whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, you are already ahead in your quest to get into an economics PhD.)

Here is the not-very-surprising list of things that will help you get into a good econ PhD program:

• good grades, especially in whatever math and economics classes you take,
• a good score on the math GRE,
• some math classes and a statistics class on your transcript,
• research experience, and definitely at least one letter of recommendation from a researcher,
• a demonstrable interest in the field of economics.

Chances are, if you’re asking for advice, you probably feel unprepared in one of two ways. Either you don’t have a sterling math background, or you have quantitative skills but are new to the field of econ. Fortunately, we have advice for both types of applicant.

If you’re weak in math…

Fortunately, if you’re weak in math, we have good news:  Math is something you can learn . That may sound like a crazy claim to most Americans, who are raised to believe that math ability is in the genes. It may even sound like arrogance coming from two people who have never had to struggle with math. But we’ve both taught people math for many years, and we really believe that it’s true. Genes help a bit, but math is like a foreign language or a sport: effort will result in skill.

Here are the math classes you absolutely should take to get into a good econ program:

• Linear algebra
• Multivariable calculus

Here are the classes you should take, but can probably get away with studying on your own:

• Ordinary differential equations
• Real analysis

Linear algebra (matrices, vectors, and all that) is something that you’ll use all the time in econ, especially when doing work on a computer. Multivariable calculus also will be used a lot. And stats of course is absolutely key to almost everything economists do. Differential equations are something you will use once in a while. And real analysis—by far the hardest subject of the five—is something that you will probably never use in real econ research, but which the economics field has decided to use as a sort of general intelligence signaling device.

If you took some math classes but didn’t do very well, don’t worry.  Retake the classes . If you are worried about how that will look on your transcript, take the class the first time “off the books” at a different college (many community colleges have calculus classes) or online. Or if you have already gotten a bad grade, take it a second time off the books and then a third time for your transcript. If you work hard, every time you take the class you’ll do better. You will learn the math and be able to prove it by the grade you get. Not only will this help you get into an econ PhD program, once you get in, you’ll breeze through parts of grad school that would otherwise be agony.

Here’s another useful tip:  Get a book and study math on your own before taking the corresponding class for a grade. Reading math on your own is something you’re going to have to get used to doing in grad school anyway (especially during your dissertation!), so it’s good to get used to it now. Beyond course-related books, you can either pick up a subject-specific book (Miles learned much of his math from studying books in the Schaum’s outline series ), or get a “math for economists” book; regarding the latter, Miles recommends Mathematics for Economists  by Simon and Blume, while Noah swears by Mathematical Methods and Models for Economists  by de la Fuente. When you study on your own, the most important thing is to  work through a bunch of problems . That will give you practice for test-taking, and will be more interesting than just reading through derivations.

This will take some time, of course. That’s OK. That’s what summer is for (right?). If you’re late in your college career, you can always take a fifth year, do a gap year, etc.

When you get to grad school, you will have to take an intensive math course called “math camp” that will take up a good part of your summer. For how to get through math camp itself, see this guide by Jérémie Cohen-Setton .

One more piece of advice for the math-challenged:  Be a research assistant on something non-mathy . There are lots of economists doing relatively simple empirical work that requires only some basic statistics knowledge and the ability to use software like Stata. There are more and more experimental economists around, who are always looking for research assistants. Go find a prof and get involved! (If you are still in high school or otherwise haven’t yet chosen a college, you might want to choose one where some of the professors do experiments and so need research assistants—something that is easy to figure out by studying professors’ websites carefully, or by asking about it when you visit the college.)

If you’re new to econ…

If you’re a disillusioned physicist, a bored biostatistician, or a neuroscientist looking to escape that evil  Principal Investigator, don’t worry:  An econ background is not necessary . A lot of the best economists started out in other fields, while a lot of undergrad econ majors are headed for MBAs or jobs in banks. Econ PhD programs know this. They will probably not mind if you have never taken an econ class.

That said, you may still want to  take an econ class , just to verify that you actually like the subject, to start thinking about econ, and to prepare yourself for the concepts you’ll encounter. If you feel like doing this, you can probably skip Econ 101 and 102, and head straight for an Intermediate Micro or Intermediate Macro class.

Another good thing is to  read through an econ textbook . Although economics at the PhD level is mostly about the math and statistics and computer modeling (hopefully getting back to the real world somewhere along the way when you do your own research), you may also want to get the flavor of the less mathy parts of economics from one of the well-written lower-level textbooks (either one by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells , Greg Mankiw , or Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok ) and maybe one at a bit higher level as well, such as David Weil’s excellent book on economic growth ) or Varian’s Intermediate Microeconomics .

Remember to take a statistics class , if you haven’t already. Some technical fields don’t require statistics, so you may have missed this one. But to econ PhD programs, this will be a gaping hole in your resume. Go take stats!

One more thing you can do is research with an economist . Fortunately, economists are generally extremely welcoming to undergrad RAs from outside econ, who often bring extra skills. You’ll get great experience working with data if you don’t have it already. It’ll help you come up with some research ideas to put in your application essays. And of course you’ll get another all-important letter of recommendation.

And now for…

General tips for everyone

Here is the most important tip for everyone:  Don’t just apply to “top” schools . For some degrees—an MBA for example—people question whether it’s worthwhile to go to a non-top school. But for econ departments, there’s no question. Both Miles and Noah have marveled at the number of smart people working at non-top schools. That includes some well-known bloggers, by the way—Tyler Cowen teaches at George Mason University (ranked 64th ), Mark Thoma teaches at the University of Oregon (ranked 56th ), and Scott Sumner teaches at Bentley, for example. Additionally, a flood of new international students is expanding the supply of quality students. That means that the number of high-quality schools is increasing; tomorrow’s top 20 will be like today’s top 10, and tomorrow’s top 100 will be like today’s top 50.

Apply to schools outside of the top 20—any school in the top 100 is worth considering, especially if it is strong in areas you are interested in. If your classmates aren’t as elite as you would like, that just means that you will get more attention from the professors, who almost all came out of top programs themselves. When Noah said in his earlier post that econ PhD students are virtually guaranteed to get jobs in an econ-related field, that applied to schools far down in the ranking. Everyone participates in the legendary centrally managed econ job market . Very few people ever fall through the cracks.

Next—and this should go without saying— don’t be afraid to retake the GRE . If you want to get into a top 10 school, you probably need a perfect or near-perfect score on the math portion of the GRE. For schools lower down the rankings, a good GRE math score is still important. Fortunately, the GRE math section is relatively simple to study for—there are only a finite number of topics covered, and with a little work you can “overlearn” all of them, so you can do them even under time pressure and when you are nervous. In any case, you can keep retaking the test until you get a good score (especially if the early tries are practice tests from the GRE prep books and prep software), and then you’re OK!

Here’s one thing that may surprise you: Getting an econ master’s degree alone won’t help . Although master’s degrees in economics are common among international students who apply to econ PhD programs, American applicants do just fine without a master’s degree on their record. If you want that extra diploma, realize that once you are in a PhD program, you will get a master’s degree automatically after two years. And if you end up dropping out of the PhD program, that master’s degree will be worth more than a stand-alone master’s would. The one reason to get a master’s degree is if it can help you remedy a big deficiency in your record, say not having taken enough math or stats classes, not having taken any econ classes, or not having been able to get anyone whose name admissions committees would recognize to write you a letter of recommendation.

For getting into grad school, much more valuable than a master’s is a stint as a research assistant in the Federal Reserve System or at a think tank —though these days, such positions can often be as hard to get into as a PhD program!

Finally—and if you’re reading this, chances are you’re already doing this— read some econ blogs . (See Miles’s speculations about the future of the econ blogosphere here .) Econ blogs are no substitute for econ classes, but they’re a great complement. Blogs are good for picking up the lingo of academic economists, and learning to think like an economist. Don’t be afraid to  write  a blog either, even if no one ever reads it (you don’t have to be writing at the same level as Evan Soltas or Yichuan Wang );  you can still put it on your CV, or just practice writing down your thoughts. And when you write your dissertation, and do research later on in your career, you are going to have to think for yourself outside the context of a class . One way to practice thinking critically is by critiquing others’ blog posts, at least in your head.

Anyway, if you want to have intellectual stimulation and good work-life balance, and a near-guarantee of a well-paying job in your field of interest, an econ PhD could be just the thing for you. Don’t be scared of the math and the jargon. We’d love to have you.

Update:  Miles’s colleague Jeff Smith at the University of Michigan amplifies many of the things we say on his blog.  For a  complete  guide, be sure to see what Jeff has to say, too.

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• PhD Program

The Ph.D. Program in the Department of Economics at Harvard is addressed to students of high promise who wish to prepare themselves 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 more 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.  The Harvard community outside of the department functions as a strong and diverse resource. Students in the department are free to pursue research interests with scholars throughout the University. Faculty of the Harvard Law School, Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Business School, for example, are available to students for consultation, instruction, and research guidance. As a member of the Harvard community, students in the department can register for courses in the various schools and have access to the enormous library resources available through the University. There are over 90 separate library units at Harvard, with the total collections of books and pamphlets numbering over 13 million.  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.

• Program Requirements
• Job Placement
• Financial Support

PhD Program

Year after year, our top-ranked PhD program sets the standard for graduate economics training across the country. Graduate students work closely with our world-class faculty to develop their own research and prepare to make impactful contributions to the field.

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. Beyond the classroom, doctoral students work in close collaboration with faculty to develop their research capabilities, gaining hands-on experience in both theoretical and empirical projects.

How to apply

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.

Meet our students

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. 

About the Program

The Economics PhD program at UC Berkeley is designed for students interested in pursuing advanced study and conducting original research in economics. The PhD degree is awarded in recognition of the recipient's qualifications as a general economist and of the ability to make scholarly contributions in fields of specialization. New admissions to the graduate program are restricted to students pursuing the PhD degree. There is no external, terminal program for the MA degree.

Visit Department Website

Admission to the University

Applying for graduate admission.

Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. The Graduate Division hosts a complete list of graduate academic programs, departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application and steps to take to apply can be found on the Graduate Division website .

Admission Requirements

The minimum graduate admission requirements are:

A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;

A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and

Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.

For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page . It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here .

Where to apply?

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page .

Admission to the Program

A degree equivalent to a US bachelor’s is required for admission to the program. An undergraduate degree in economics is not required for admission to the PhD program, provided that applicants have achieved an adequate background in economics and mathematics at the undergraduate level.

• Economics: All applicants are expected to have completed intermediate math-based economic theory courses. Further education in economics and economic theory is helpful, but not required.
• Math: Applicants must have knowledge of multivariate calculus, basic matrix algebra, and differential equations; completion of a two-year math sequence, which emphasizes proofs and derivations. Some knowledge of statistics and elementary probability is highly desirable, as is additional coursework in algebra and real analysis.

The GRE has been optional since 2020, but may revert back to required in a future term. Please visit our website  for the department-specific requirements.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Normative time requirements.

In advancing to the PhD degree, students pass through two major stages:

1) Preparation for candidacy typically takes three years. During the first two semesters, students take courses to achieve competence in econometric methods, methods of economic history, and fundamentals of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. During the next two years, students prepare for examination in two fields of specialization of their choosing, prepare a dissertation prospectus, and take/pass an oral examination. When these steps are completed, students will then apply to advance to candidacy.

2) Completion of a dissertation after advancing to candidacy typically takes three to four years. The dissertation must be based on original research and represent a significant contribution to the body of economic knowledge.

The entire process takes approximately six to seven years, although some students are able to complete the program in less time.

Time to Advancement

During the first two semesters of graduate study, students must take a set of eight core courses to satisfy requirements in mathematics, economic history, economic theory, and econometrics. Syllabi for current and recent economics courses, including the core courses described below, can be found on the   Economics Course Home Page Registry .

Preliminary Exams—Field Examination

All graduate students must take written qualifying examinations in two fields of specialization. Students prepare for these examinations in the second year by completing graduate courses offered in their chosen fields. 

Fields Available in the Economics Department

• Advanced Economic Theory
• Development Economics
• Econometrics
• Economic History
• Financial Economics
• Industrial Organization
• International Economics
• Labor Economics
• Macroeconomics
• Political Economics
• Psychology and Economics
• Public Finance

Alternative fields offered by another department or designed by the student may be substituted for one of the fields listed above if approved by the graduate committee. Alternative fields may include Economic Demography, Education and Economics, Health Economics, Law and Economics, Resource Economics, Urban and Regional Economics, or City and Regional Planning.

Students must complete at least one semester of any  department seminars   prior to taking their oral examination. This is typically done in the third year of study.

Dissertation Prospectus and Oral Examination (QUALIFYING EXAMINATION)

Students are encouraged to begin discussing possible dissertation topics with appropriate faculty members at an early stage. After completing the written field examinations, students choose a faculty member to serve as an advisor on developing a dissertation topic involving significant and original research, and to supervise the writing of a prospectus. The prospectus describes the research to be conducted, the techniques to be used, and initial findings. Students who cannot find an adviser on their own will be matched with a preliminary adviser at the beginning of the third year of study.

Qualifying Examination

When the prospectus is approved by the faculty adviser, the qualifying examination is scheduled. The examining committee consists of four faculty members who conduct an oral examination based on the student's areas of specialization and on the dissertation prospectus. A primary function of the oral examination is to aid the student in developing a dissertation and to determine whether the student is sufficiently prepared to complete original research successfully.

Time in Candidacy

Advancement.

Upon successful completion of the oral examination and selection of a dissertation committee, the student is advanced to candidacy. Following advancement to candidacy, students pursue research necessary for the completion of their dissertation.

Fourth Year Paper

In the fourth year students will work with their advisor to write a complete draft of a research paper. The topic can be on what was done for the orals examination, or something new. Students may be excused from this requirement under exceptional circumstances (e.g., lengthy field work), but they would need to submit a letter to the Graduate Chair from the student's advisor requesting an exception. 

Dissertation

Students are encouraged to select dissertation topics that can be completed in one to two years. 

Upon completion of the dissertation and its acceptance by the dissertation committee, the student is awarded the PhD degree.

Graduate Program Outcomes

Professional placement.

Students who have received, or will soon receive, the PhD in Economics are assisted by the department in finding suitable career positions. The department learns of available openings for qualified economists through an exchange of information with universities, colleges, government agencies, and research institutes.

The department staff coordinates and facilitates placement activities, and a faculty member oversees and advises placement. Serious effort is made to help students find positions in which their capacities will be both used and rewarded. The department has been highly successful in placing students, which is a reflection on the quality of its students and their training, and the importance the department places on this activity.

Past placement outcomes can be found on the department's website .

ECON 201A Economic Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including theory of the firm and the consumer, game theory. Economic Theory: Read More [+]

Rules & Requirements

Prerequisites: 101A-101B, 204, Mathematics 53 and 54; or equivalent

Hours & Format

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.

Additional Details

Subject/Course Level: Economics/Graduate

Grading: Letter grade.

Economic Theory: Read Less [-]

ECON 201B Economic Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including agency theory and mechanism design, general equilibrium theory. Economic Theory: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 101A-101B, 201A, 204, Mathematics 53 and 54; or equivalent

ECON 202A Macroeconomics 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including aggregation theory, national accounting and index problems, survey of major short-term models, implications of various expectations hypotheses, wage price determination, the role of money and financial assets, theories of consumption and investment, disequilibrium theory, dynamic systems, and international considerations. Macroeconomics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 100A-100B or 101A-101B or equivalent. Mathematics 53 and 54 or equivalent

Macroeconomics: Read Less [-]

ECON 202B Macroeconomics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including aggregation theory, national accounting and index problems, survey of major short-term models, implications of various expectations hypotheses, wage price determination, the role of money and financial assets, theories of consumption and investment, disequilibrium theory, dynamic systems, and international considerations. Macroeconomics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 100A-100B or 101A-101B or equivalent. Mathematics 50A or equivalent

ECON 204 Mathematical Tools for Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 3 Week Session, Fall 2023, Summer 2023 3 Week Session The course provides a rigorous abstract treatment of the elements of real analysis and linear algebra central to current research in economics. The course develops in the students the ability to read mathematical proofs and to compose simple proofs on their own. Mathematical Tools for Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Mathematics 53 and 54 or equivalent and consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Summer: 3 weeks - 10 hours of lecture and 5 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. Ten hours of Lecture and Five hours of Discussion per week for 3 weeks.

Mathematical Tools for Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 206 Mechanism Design and Agency Theory 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2019 This course will study the optimal design of mechanisms in the presence of incomplete information and imperfect observability. The course will begin with the "classic" principal-agent problem and will then develop its applications to the "implicit contracts" theory of agency and to the choice of government policies for regulated industries. The second half of the course will treat the design of auctions, regulation with costly or imperfect monitoring, mechanism design with limited contracts. Mechanism Design and Agency Theory: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 201B and 209A or consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.

Formerly known as: 209B

Mechanism Design and Agency Theory: Read Less [-]

ECON 207A Mathematical Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 Mathematical analysis of economic theory. The problems treated involve as wide a range of mathematical techniques and of economic topics as possible, including theories of preference, utility, demand, personal probability, games and general equilibrium. Also listed as IDS 213A-213B and Math 213A-213B. Mathematical Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Math 104 and 110 and Statistics 101

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture per week. Twelve hours per week including class time and preparation.

Mathematical Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 207B Mathematical Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2015, Spring 2011 Mathematical analysis of economic theory. The problems treated involve as wide a range of mathematical techniques and of economic topics as possible, including theories of preference, utility, demand, personal probability, games and general equilibrium. Also listed as IDS 213A-213B and Math 213A-213B. Mathematical Economics: Read More [+]

ECON 208 Microeconomic Theory Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Microeconomic Theory Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Microeconomic Theory Seminar: Read Less [-]

ECON 209A Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011 This course will study both pure game theory and its application to such problems as oligopoly pricing, non-cooperative bargaining, predatory pricing, and optimal auctions. The focus will be on game theory as a modelling process as opposed to a body of known results. Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games: Read More [+]

Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games: Read Less [-]

ECON 209B Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games: II 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014 The course will cover basic topics not covered in 209A; will provide a more thorough treatment of topics covered in 209A; will cover a selection of advanced topics. Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games: II: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 209A or consent of instructor

Theory and Application of Non-Cooperative Games: II: Read Less [-]

ECON 210A Introduction to Economic History 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Survey of some central themes in world economic history. Required of all Ph.D. candidates in economics. Introduction to Economic History: Read More [+]

Introduction to Economic History: Read Less [-]

ECON 210B Topics in European Economic History 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021 A survey of some central themes in European economic history. Topics in European Economic History: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 210A

Topics in European Economic History: Read Less [-]

ECON 210C Topics in American Economic History 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2013 A survey of some central themes in American economic history. Topics in American Economic History: Read More [+]

Topics in American Economic History: Read Less [-]

ECON 211 Seminar in Economic History 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Economic History: Read More [+]

Seminar in Economic History: Read Less [-]

ECON 215A Political Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015 Tools of political economics: preferences and institutions, electoral competition, agency, partisan politics. Redistributive politics: general interest politics, special interest politics. Comparative politics: electoral rules, separation of powers, political regimes. Dynamic politics: fiscal policy, growth. Political Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 215A is a prerequisite to 215B

Instructor: Roland

Political Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 215B Political Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Tools of political economics: preferences and institutions, electoral competition, agency, partisan politics. Redistributive politics: general interest politics, special interest politics. Comparative politics: electoral rules, separation of powers, political regimes. Dynamic politics: fiscal policy, growth. Political Economics: Read More [+]

ECON C215A Political Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 Tools of political economics: preferences and institutions, electoral competition, agency, partisan politics. Redistributive politics: general interest politics, special interest politics. Comparative politics: electoral rules, separation of powers, political regimes. Dynamic politics: fiscal policy, growth. Political Economics: Read More [+]

Also listed as: POL SCI C237A

ECON C215B Political Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Tools of political economics: preferences and institutions, electoral competition, agency, partisan politics. Redistributive politics: general interest politics, special interest politics. Comparative politics: electoral rules, separation of powers, political regimes. Dynamic politics: fiscal policy, growth. Political Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: ECON C215A is a prerequisite to ECON C215B , and POL SCI C237A is a prerequisite to POL SCI C237B

Also listed as: POL SCI C237B

ECON 217 Risk Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This interdisciplinary seminar features seminar participants and guest speakers from academic institutions and financial services firms, presenting work on the analysis and management of risk in financial markets. Economics, statistics, finance, operations research, and other disciplines will be represented. Risk Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Graduate standing

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for Economics 217 after completing Statistics 278B.

Additional Format: Two hours of seminar per week.

Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.

Instructors: Goldberg, Anderson

Risk Seminar: Read Less [-]

ECON 218 Seminar in Psychology and Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A graduate seminar in the field of behavioral economics. Seminar in Psychology and Economics: Read More [+]

Instructors: Della Vigna, Koszegi, Rabin

Seminar in Psychology and Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 219A Foundations of Psychology and Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course presents psychological and experimental economics research demonstrating departures from perfect rationality, self-interest, and other classical assumptions of economics and explores ways that these departures can be mathematically modeled and incorporated into mainstream positive and normative economics. The course will focus on the behavioral evidence itself, especially on specific formal assumptions that capture the findings in a way that can be used by economists. Economic applications will be used for illustrative purposes, but the course will emphasize formal theory. Foundations of Psychology and Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 201A-201B or consent of instructor

Foundations of Psychology and Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 219B Applications of Psychology and Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 This course will build off of the material presented in 219A. It will expand on the psychological and experimental economic research presented there, but will emphasize a range of economic applications and especially empirical research. Applications of Psychology and Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 219A, 240A-240B or consent of instructor

Applications of Psychology and Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 220A Industrial Organization 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Market structure, conduct and performance in the unregulated sector of the American economy. Public policies related to the promotion or restriction of competition. Industrial Organization: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 201A

Industrial Organization: Read Less [-]

ECON 220B Industrial Organization 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021 Continuation of 220A. The characteristics of regulated industries and the consequences of regulation for economic performance. Industrial Organization: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 220A

ECON 220C Special Topics in Industrial Organization 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2020 See course announcement for current topics. Special Topics in Industrial Organization: Read More [+]

Special Topics in Industrial Organization: Read Less [-]

ECON 221 Seminar in Industrial Organization: Regulation and Public Enterprise 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Industrial Organization: Regulation and Public Enterprise: Read More [+]

Seminar in Industrial Organization: Regulation and Public Enterprise: Read Less [-]

ECON C222 Economics of Innovation 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015 Study of innovation, technical change, and intellectual property, including the industrial organization and performance of high-technology industries and firms; the use of economic, patent, and other bibliometric data for the analysis of technical change; legal and economic issues of intellectual property rights; science and technology policy; and the contributions of innovation and diffusion to economic growth. Methods of analysis are both theoretical and empirical, econometric and case study. Economics of Innovation: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.

Also listed as: PHDBA C279I

Economics of Innovation: Read Less [-]

ECON 224 Economics of Institutions 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2012 This course develops the proposition that institutions have pervasive ramifications for understanding economic organization. A comparative institutional approach is employed whereby the transaction is made the basic unit of analysis and alternative modes of organization are assessed with respect to their comparative contracting properties. Economics of Institutions: Read More [+]

Economics of Institutions: Read Less [-]

ECON C225 Workshop in Institutional Analysis 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013 This seminar features current research of faculty, from UC Berkeley and elsewhere, and of advanced doctoral students who are investigating the efficacy of economic and non-economic forms of organization. An interdisciplinary perspective--combining aspects of law, economics, and organization--is maintained. Markets, hierarchies, hybrids, bureaus, and the supporting institutions of law and politics all come under scrutiny. The aspiration is to progressively build toward a new science of organization. Workshop in Institutional Analysis: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Economics 100 or 101; Business Administration 110 or equivalent; or consent of instructor

Also listed as: PHDBA C270

Workshop in Institutional Analysis: Read Less [-]

ECON 230A Public Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 The economic and policy analysis of government expenditures, taxes, and intergovernmental fiscal relations. 230A is not a prerequisite for 230B. Public Economics: Read More [+]

Public Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 230B Public Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Government intervention changes opportunities and incentives for firms, families, individuals, service providers, and state and local government. This course considers the incentive effects of government expenditure programs. The primary emphasis will be in the examination of the effect of social expenditure programs on individuals and families. Most of the papers will be empirical. The course will not contain an explicit section on methodology and econometric techniques; instead, relevant econometric techniques (e.g., discrete choice, duration analysis) will be discussed in the context of the empirical literature. Public Economics: Read More [+]

ECON 230C Public Sector Microeconomics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 1999 The economic and policy analysis of government expenditures, taxes, and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Public Sector Microeconomics: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture per week.

Public Sector Microeconomics: Read Less [-]

ECON 231 Seminar in Public Sector Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Public Sector Economics: Read More [+]

Seminar in Public Sector Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 234A Macroeconomic Finance 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 Introduction to macroeconomic finance. Course covers static portfolio choice, capital asset pricing model (CAPM), consumption based models, dynamic equilibrium asset pricing theories, and current issues in behavioral finance. Strong emphasis on household finance and risk-sharing. Course is both theoretical and empirical. Macroeconomic Finance: Read More [+]

Formerly known as: 236D

Macroeconomic Finance: Read Less [-]

ECON 234C Financial Decision-Making in Firms 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014 This course provides a theoretical and empirical treatment of the core topics in corporate finance including internal corporate investment; external corporate investment (mergers and acquisitions); capital structure and financial contracting; bankruptcy; corporate governance. Financial Decision-Making in Firms: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 240A-240B or equivalent

Financial Decision-Making in Firms: Read Less [-]

ECON C234C Empirical Corporate Finance 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2020 This course provides a theoretical and empirical treatment of the core topics in corporate finance including internal corporate investment; external corporate investment (mergers and acquisitions); capital structure and financial contracting; bankruptcy; corporate governance. Empirical Corporate Finance: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: ECON 240A -240B or equivalent

Credit Restrictions: Students who have passed ECON 234C are not eligible to also receive credit for passing ECON C234C .

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week.

Instructor: Malmendier

Also listed as: PHDBA 239FD

Empirical Corporate Finance: Read Less [-]

ECON 235 Financial Economics Seminar 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course presents speakers who work on the boundary of economics and finance, on topics including asset pricing, behavioral finance, and corporate finance. Financial Economics Seminar: Read More [+]

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of seminar per week for eight weeks.

Financial Economics Seminar: Read Less [-]

ECON 236A Advanced Macroeconomics I 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Macroeconomic models; theory and practice of aggregate economics; rational expectations models; finance theory integrated with macro. Advanced Macroeconomics I: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: For 236A: 201A-201B and 202A-202B. For 236B: 236A

Advanced Macroeconomics I: Read Less [-]

ECON 236B Advanced Macroeconomics II 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Macroeconomic models; theory and practice of aggregate economics; rational expectations models; finance theory integrated with macro. Advanced Macroeconomics II: Read More [+]

Advanced Macroeconomics II: Read Less [-]

ECON 236D Behavioral Macroeconomics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Fall 2006 This course focuses on incorporating insights from behavioral economics into macroeconomic analysis. Behavioral Macroeconomics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Economics 202A or their equivalents. Economics 202B, Economics 219A/B will be useful, but not required Admission will be automatic for regular Berkeley PhD students. Undergraduate and master students who have an interest in economics graduate studies are also encouraged to consider taking the course, but with instructor's consent

Behavioral Macroeconomics: Read Less [-]

ECON 237 Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomics and Money 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomics and Money: Read More [+]

Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomics and Money: Read Less [-]

ECON 240A Econometrics 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including probability and statistical theory and the classical linear regression model. Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 100A or 101A or equivalent; 100B or 101B or equivalent; Mathematics 53 and 54, or equivalent; Statistics 131A or equivalent

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Four hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.

Formerly known as: 240

Econometrics: Read Less [-]

ECON 240B Econometrics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Basic preparation for the Ph.D. program including generalized least squares; instrumental variables estimation; generalized method of moments; time series analysis; and nonlinear models. Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 240A or equivalent

ECON 241A Econometrics 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Intended for students specializing in econometrics and others with strong mathematical backgrounds. Linear and nonlinear statistical models and their applications in economics. Special problems in analyzing data from non-controlled experiments. Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Econ 240A,B; linear algebra; multivariable calculus; basic probability and inference theory

ECON 241B Econometrics 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course will cover fundamentals of time series econometrics. It is intended both for students specializing in econometric theory and for students interested in applying time series methods to economic data. Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Econ 240A-B, or equivalent

ECON 241C Econometrics 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 The course covers topics in classic nonparametric and modern approaches to econometrics. Topics include (among others) decision theory, high-dimensional models, causal inference, and Bayesian methods. Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Econ 240A-B; linear algebra; multivariable calculus, basic probability and inference theory

ECON 242 Seminar in Econometrics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Econometrics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 240A-240B

Seminar in Econometrics: Read Less [-]

ECON 244 Applied Econometrics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021 Methods of applied econometrics, with emphasis on alternative modelling strategies and problems met in practice. Intended for doctoral students conducting empirical research. Applied Econometrics: Read More [+]

Applied Econometrics: Read Less [-]

ECON 250A Labor Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021 Analysis of labor market behavior. Labor Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 250A is prerequisite to 250B. Consent of instructor

Labor Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 250B Labor Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Analysis of labor market behavior. Labor Economics: Read More [+]

ECON 250C Labor Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012 Analysis of labor market behavior. Labor Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 250B

ECON 251 Seminar in Labor Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar for students at the doctoral dissertation level. Seminar in Labor Economics: Read More [+]

Seminar in Labor Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 255 Spatial Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024 The course covers issues in spatial economics, from a variety of viewpoints, including public finance and economic geography. The class will introduce students to advanced tools for both theoretical and empirical analysis of spatial topics. Spatial Economics: Read More [+]

Spatial Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 260A Comparative Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020 New issues raised by transition for economics. Political economy of reform: speed, sequencing, reform design, political economy of privatization. Allocative changes: speed of sectoral reallocation, price liberalization, output fall and macroeconomic dynamics, law enforcement, dynamics of institutional change. Comparative Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 260A is prerequisite to 260B

Comparative Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 270B Development Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Problems of underdevelopment and poverty, policy issues and development strategies. Development Economics: Read More [+]

Development Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 270C Development Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Basic macro-policy planning with investment project analysis. Development Economics: Read More [+]

ECON C270A Microeconomics of Development 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 Theoretical and empirical analyses of poverty and inequality, household and community behavior, and contract and institutions in the context of developing countries. Microeconomics of Development: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Four hours of lecture per week.

Also listed as: A,RESEC C251

Microeconomics of Development: Read Less [-]

ECON 271 Seminar in Development Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in Development Economics: Read More [+]

Seminar in Development Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 274 Global Poverty and Impact Evaluation 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2013 Rather than simply describing the causes and symptoms of global poverty, this course will explore the variety of tools available for rigorously measuring the impact of development programs. Through weekly case studies of field research, the course will cover impact evaluation theory and methods. The course will culminate with a final project in which each student will design an impact evaluation of a policy or intervention. Global Poverty and Impact Evaluation: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: At least one prior term of intermediate economics (i.e., 100A or 100B) and some prior coursework in statistics

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.

Instructor: Miguel

Global Poverty and Impact Evaluation: Read Less [-]

ECON C275A Economic Demography 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2019, Spring 2015 Economic consequences of demographic change in developing and developed countries including capital formation, labor markets, and intergenerational transfers. Economic determinants of fertility, mortality and migration. Economic Demography: Read More [+]

Instructor: Lee

Also listed as: DEMOG C275A

Economic Demography: Read Less [-]

ECON C275B Aging: Economic and Demographic Aspects 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2006, Spring 2004, Spring 2002 Course considers demographic and economic aspects of population aging. Aging: Economic and Demographic Aspects: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 7.5 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture per week for seven and one-half weeks.

Also listed as: DEMOG C236

Aging: Economic and Demographic Aspects: Read Less [-]

ECON 280A International Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 The world economy as a general equilibrium system. The theory of international economics, trade policy. International Economics: Read More [+]

International Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 280B International Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020 This course develops basic theoretical models for studying issues in open-economy macroeconomics. The current account and the trade balance, international capital market integration, developing country debt problems, the real exchange rate, fiscal policy in the open economy, and international policy coordination. International Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 280A is not prerequisite to 280B

ECON 280C International Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021 This course is an empirical treatment of open-economy macroeconomics and finance. Topics include trade elasticities, the determination of the trade balance and income under fixed and floating exchange rates, purchasing power parity, devaluation in small open economies, quantifying the degree of international capital mobility, implications for the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy, international interdependence and coordination, models of exchange rate determination. International Economics: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 280B

ECON 281 Seminar in International Trade and Finance 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminar in International Trade and Finance: Read More [+]

Seminar in International Trade and Finance: Read Less [-]

ECON 291 Departmental Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 A general interest seminar featuring speakers and topics of broad interest whose work will be important for all areas of economics. Departmental Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: 201B, 202B

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: One and one-half hours of seminar every other week.

Departmental Seminar: Read Less [-]

ECON 295 Survey of Research in Economics 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Presentations by departmental faculty of new research directions in different subfields of economics. Survey of Research in Economics: Read More [+]

Survey of Research in Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 296 Special Topics in Economics 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2010 Topics of different sections to be announced annually. Special Topics in Economics: Read More [+]

Special Topics in Economics: Read Less [-]

ECON 298 Directed Group Study for Graduates 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Seminars for the group of selected topics, which will vary from year to year. Directed Group Study for Graduates: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Hours to be arranged.

Directed Group Study for Graduates: Read Less [-]

ECON 299 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session Open to candidates for the Ph.D. degree who have passed the qualifying examination and who are engaged in research for the thesis, and in special cases, with consent of the instructor in charge, to graduate students who desire to do special work in a particular field. Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Zero hours of Independent study per week for 15 weeks. Zero hours of Independent study per week for 8 weeks. Zero hours of Independent study per week for 6 weeks.

Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read Less [-]

ECON 301 GSI Practicum 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Course credit for experience gained in academic teaching through employment as a graduate student instructor. GSI Practicum: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Appointment as graduate student instructor in department, consent of graduate advisor

Subject/Course Level: Economics/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers

Instructor: Olney

GSI Practicum: Read Less [-]

ECON 375 GSI Pedagogy Workshop 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course is the pedagogy workshop for graduate student instructors (GSIs) in the Departments of Economics and Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE), and satisfies the Graduate Division requirement for first-time GSIs. The goal of the workshop is to teach teaching. Through readings, discussion, assignments, and in-class activities, GSIs develop teaching skills grounded in pedagogical research. GSI Pedagogy Workshop: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Not repeatable.

GSI Pedagogy Workshop: Read Less [-]

ECON 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Individual study in consultation with the major field advisor, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified graduate students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. A student will be permitted to accumulate a maximum of 16 units of 602. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for doctoral degree.

Additional Format: Zero hours of Independent study per week for 15 weeks.

Subject/Course Level: Economics/Graduate examination preparation

Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read Less [-]

Contact Information

Department of economics.

530 Evans Hall

Phone: 510-642-0822

Fax: 510-642-6615

[email protected]

Department Chair

Andres Rodriguez-Clare

609 Evans Hall

Phone: 510-643-1654

[email protected]

Graduate Chair

Yuriy Gorodnichenko

619 Evans Hall

Phone: 510-642-6649

[email protected]

Undergraduate Chair

Demian Pouzo

663 Evans Hall

Phone: 510-642-6709

[email protected]

Director of Student Services

Michelle Fong

551 Evans Hall

[email protected]

Assistant Director, Course Management

Isabel Burle

545 Evans Hall

[email protected]

Curriculum & Enrollment Coordinator

Blair Van Tassel

543 Evans Hall

[email protected]

Assistant Director, Graduate Student Services

Janene Vernard

541 Evans Hall

Phone: 510-642-6172

[email protected]

Assistant Director, Undergrad Student Services

Carlos Garcia

533 Evans Hall

Economics Undergraduate Advisor

Trinh Nguyen

Ashley Vera

Dinko Lakic

539 Evans Hall

Mildred Flores

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Purdue’s Daniels School offers a PhD in Economics which develops core competencies in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, while allowing students to choose specialized study in a variety of different fields. The Economics PhD is well-suited for those interested in rigorous application of mathematical tools to better understand decisions made by individuals and firms, and to evaluate economic policies.

By collaborating with renowned faculty in the areas of econometrics, experimental and behavioral economics, industrial organization, international trade, labor economics, macroeconomics, and public economics, our doctoral students go on to conduct frontier research at leading universities, shape public policy and influence business strategy.

Grounded in a strong methodological and quantitative orientation, our PhD program broadens students’ understanding of economic issues, provides an opportunity for individualized research and specialization, and sharpens critical thinking skills.

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If you would like to receive more information about doctoral study in Economics, please fill out the form and an Admissions Specialist will be in touch to connect you with a department representative!

Contact us for more information [email protected]

Program Details

Faculty and Students

Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. program is a full time program leading to a Doctoral Degree in Economics.  Students specialize in various fields within Economics by enrolling in field courses and attending field specific lunches and seminars.  Students gain economic breadth by taking additional distribution courses outside of their selected fields of interest.

General requirements

Students  are required to complete 1 quarter of teaching experience. Teaching experience includes teaching assistantships within the Economics department or another department .

University's residency requirement

135 units of full-tuition residency are required for PhD students. After that, a student should have completed all course work and must request Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status.

Department degree requirements and student checklist

1. core course requirement.

Required: Core Microeconomics (202-203-204) Core Macroeconomics (210-211-212) Econometrics (270-271-272).  The Business School graduate microeconomics class series may be substituted for the Econ Micro Core.  Students wishing to waive out of any of the first year core, based on previous coverage of at least 90% of the material,  must submit a waiver request to the DGS at least two weeks prior to the start of the quarter.  A separate waiver request must be submitted for each course you are requesting to waive.  The waiver request must include a transcript and a syllabus from the prior course(s) taken.  

2.  Field Requirements

Required:  Two of the Following Fields Chosen as Major Fields (click on link for specific field requirements).  Field sequences must be passed with an overall grade average of B or better.  Individual courses require a letter grade of B- or better to pass unless otherwise noted.

Research fields and field requirements :

• Behavioral & Experimental
• Development Economics
• Econometric Methods with Causal Inference
• Econometrics
• Economic History
• Environmental, Resource and Energy Economics
• Industrial Organization
• International Trade & Finance
• Labor Economics
• Market Design
• Microeconomic Theory
• Macroeconomics
• Political Economy
• Public Economics

3.  Distribution

Required:  Four other graduate-level courses must be completed. One of these must be from the area of economic history (unless that field has already been selected above). These courses must be distributed in such a way that at least two fields not selected above are represented.  Distribution courses must be passed with a grade of B or better.

4.  Field Seminars/Workshops

Required:  Three quarters of two different field seminars or six quarters of the same field seminar from the list below.   

Ph.D. Program

Make an impact: The intellectual rigor from researchers associated with Yale Economics drives innovations in domestic and international policy.

• Requirements

Yale's Department of Economics offers a challenging and rigorous academic program, a distinguished and accessible faculty, and a friendly, supportive environment for study.

Our core teaching faculty of 66 is supported by a diverse group of visiting professors and graduate student teaching assistants, making it one of the largest economics departments in the United States with one of the highest teacher/student ratios for the 130 Ph.D. students in residence.

The Department of Economics also has close ties with professional schools in related fields, such as the Yale School of Management, the Yale School of the Environment, and the Yale School of Public Health, where many of its secondary faculty members teach. It also works with affiliated centers, including the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, the Economic Growth Center, and the newly created Tobin Center for Economic Policy . 

• The Program
• Prospective Students
• Milestones and Timeline
• Student Resources
• Student Directory

Our Program

Yale's economics faculty embraces a broad range of research and teaching interests. Courses and seminars span a wide spectrum of economics, from dynamic structural models to field experiments. Our students apply econometric and data analytic methods to a variety of subjects in macroeconomics, labor economics and finance. Our courses examine critical economic policy issues, including antitrust and environmental regulation. Our focus is global, spanning the United States and developed economies to the developing nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa. Whatever your interest, our faculty is ready to guide you through a wide offering of more than a hundred regular courses, seminars or workshops, combined with individually tailored reading and research courses to best prepare you for your Ph.D. research and dissertation.

Our faculty is eclectic in methodologies and views of economics. There is no Yale dogma or school. You will acquire a critical perspective on the full range of approaches to macroeconomics. You will be well trained in neoclassical theory and in the theory of public choice, externalities and market failures. You will master the skills of sophisticated modern econometrics and understand pitfalls in its applications. You will gain respect for the power of contemporary mathematical models and also for history and for the insights of the great economists of the past.  

Fields of Study

Important dates.

Aug. 19, Mon. GSAS New Student Orientation week begins.

Aug. 26, Mon. Add/drop period opens, 8:00 am.

Aug. 28, Wed. Fall-term classes begin.

Full calendar

• Research Centers
• Academic Programs
• Princeton University
• News & Activities
• Prospective Majors
• Major Requirements
• Course Selection
• Independent Work
• Other Rules and Grading Guidelines
• Economics Statistical Services (ESS)
• Minors and Programs
• Study Abroad and Internship Milestone Credit
• Funding, Research Assistant, and Career Opps
• Common Questions

Ph.D. Admissions

Current Students

• Course Offerings
• Job Market and Placements
• Graduate Student Directory

Graduate Program

Ph.d. studies at princeton economics.

The Ph.D. program at Princeton Economics is one of the premier economics programs in the world. The small number of students admitted each year receive training in an exceptional research environment, supported by faculty members who are working at the forefront of research in their fields.

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 Economics Department at Princeton does not offer a Master’s Degree. Students looking for information about the Master in Finance can learn more on the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance website .

Job Market Placements

Tepper School of Business

Ph.D. Program in Economics

Graduates have exceptional research training in economic theory and the quantitative tools required for innovative research on complex economic problems..

The purpose of the Ph.D. program in Economics is to educate scientists who will advance the frontiers of economic knowledge through research and teaching.

The program is designed to provide students with sound training in economic theory, and the quantitative tools required for innovative research on economic problems. Equally important, the program is structured to allow students both time and guidance for research activities.

The goal of the doctoral program in economics is to help students learn to do original, creative research. Unlike most graduate programs in economics, we have chosen not to impose rigid course requirements on students. Instead, we emphasize involving students in research early in their graduate careers. Students in the doctoral program in economics at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon take courses in order to learn the fundamental principles of economic theory underlying all areas of application, and to master the analytic and modeling techniques of the practicing research economist. In-depth knowledge of specialized areas is required as a by-product of research activity.

At the completion of the Ph.D. program in economics at the Tepper School, a student should have mastered the fundamental principles of economic theory and the quantitative tools required for basic and applied research. Additionally, the student should have attained a level of skill in research techniques which will serve as the basis for continued self-development.

• Students are expected to obtain knowledge of substantive research areas by taking elective courses, attending and participating in seminars, working with the faculty, and reading research papers.
• Students are urged to actively involve themselves in the intellectual life of the school.
• Seminars are a fundamental mechanism for exchange of information throughout the profession, and they are an essential professional activity of a successful research economist.
• Students should plan to attend weekly seminars throughout their stay at the business school.

Research Topics

• Real Business Cycles
• Expectations and Indeterminacy of Monetary Equilibrian Experimental Economies
• Consistent Incentive Mechanism (Contract) Design
• Corporate Financial Policy Under Asymmetric Information
• Bargaining Foundations of Product Innovation
• Variation in Wages and Hours of Work Over the Business Cycle
• Individual Adjustment to Changing Labor Markets
• The Distribution of Income Within and Across Households
• The Results of Deregulation
• Macroeconomic Policy
• International Trade Policy
• Female Labor Supply and Fertility
• The Economics Behind Marketing "New and Improving" Products
• Risk Analysis and Management
• Estimation and Inference for Dynamic Economic Models
• The Duration of Interorganizational Relationships
• The Endogeneity of Appropriability and R&D Investment

P lease visit our Ph.D. Student Profiles page t o view the profiles of our current doctoral candidates.

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The Economy of Everything

Why you need a phd in economics.

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How to Become an Economist: PhD Required

Earning a PhD in Economics means you have completed the highest level of education in the discipline, thereby creating nearly unlimited opportunities for any job in a related field. 

As a PhD economist, you'll have the skills to analyze real-world economic data with rigorous statistical techniques, critically assess the economic implications of public policy, and understand the complex relationships behind key macroeconomic variables like GDP growth, interest rates and inflation. 

The Department of Economics at SMU is highly ranked among economics departments in the United States and has prepared PhD candidates for careers as economists in both academic and non-academic positions for more than 55 years. 

If you want to become a PhD Economist, this guide will help you understand SMU's unique approach to the study of economics and prepare you to apply to our PhD program with confidence. 

We'll email you a PDF of the eBook for your reference as you apply to graduate school.

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What can i do with a phd in economics.

Economics PhDs often work in complex, high-profile positions in the corporate sector or government and frequently explore regulatory, strategic or public policies. Our resource expands on both the academic and non-academic career paths for PhD economists.

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Is a PhD in Economics Worth It?

Pursuing a PhD in economics is a big investment. Even though you will have a full tuition waiver and a stipend to cover your cost of living, you must also consider the cost of lost wages during your education. This guide will help you calculate the ROI of your PhD in Economics and determine if it's the right choice for you compared to a master's in economics. 

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Doctoral Program Guidelines

1. Introduction 2. Program Administration 3. Program Requirements

• 3.1 Preparation for Doctoral Study
• 3.2 Typical Sequence of Study
• 3.3 Coursework
• 3.4 Milestones
• 3.5 Master’s Degree

4. Financial Support

• 4.1 Satisfactory Progress
• 4.2 Conditions under which support will typically be withheld

5. Leaves of Absence 6. Conduct Expectations 7. Grievance Procedures

7.1 Student Rights and Responsibilities

7.2 Grievance Procedures for the Department of Economics

8. Misconduct and Crime

8.1 Hostile and Intimidating Behavior

8.2 Sexual Harassment

8.3 Reporting Misconduct and Crime

• 8.4 Reporting Consensual Relationships

1. Introduction

The goal of the Economics Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is to train economists: graduates of the program are prepared to undertake advanced research in economic theory, econometrics, and applied branches of economics, and to apply their knowledge and skills to a wide range of problems in a broad array of institutional settings. These aims are achieved through a program that combines coursework, examinations, seminars, and independent research, culminating in the completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation. The program has been very successful at achieving these aims, as evidenced by its strong national reputation and  placement record .

The purpose of this guide is to provide a concise description of the program’s requirements and procedures. Additional details about various aspects of the program can be found on the websites linked to this guide.

Back to the Top

2. Program Administration

The policies and procedures of the graduate program are overseen by the Graduate Committee, which consists of the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and two or more additional faculty members. Major changes in policy are made at the discretion of department faculty. The interpretation and implementation of most program policies, including the assignment of teaching assistantships, are the responsibility of the DGS.

The Graduate Admissions and Aid Committee, which consists of six or more faculty members, is responsible for admitting new doctoral students, and for allocating departmentally administered financial aid among both incoming and continuing students.

The Graduate Advisor plays a vital role in the program, serving as a key link between graduate students and faculty. The Graduate Advisor is students’ primary source of information about program policies and procedures and is also the central administrator of program procedures. The Graduate Advisor performs these roles in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Committee, and the Admissions and Aid Committee.

3. Program Requirements

3.1. Preparation for Doctoral Study

Graduate work in economics demands mathematical sophistication of a higher order than the requirements of most U.S. undergraduate economics programs would suggest. Students entering the doctoral program are required to have taken a three-course sequence in calculus, a course in linear algebra, and a course in mathematical statistics. These prerequisites are a bare minimum, and additional background in mathematics and in graduate-level economics courses can ease the transition into the program.

A detailed description of the department’s expectations about students’ mathematics preparation, both upon entry to the program and upon completion of first-year coursework, can be found on the  mathematics preparation website.

3.2. A Typical Sequence of Study

The economics doctoral program is designed so that most students should be able to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. within five years. Below is a typical sequence of study.

3.3. Coursework 3.3.1 First year

During the first year of study students are required to take the following seven courses:

Fall Semester: 703 Mathematical Economics I 709 Economic Statistics and Econometrics I 711 Microeconomic Theory I 712 Macroeconomic Theory I

Spring Semester: 710 Economic Statistics and Econometrics II 713 Microeconomic Theory II 714 Macroeconomic Theory II

703 reviews the mathematical techniques that are the basis for doctoral work in economics, while 709 provides basic training in mathematical statistics. Students with exceptional mathematics and statistics backgrounds may request exemptions from one or both of these courses. Such requests should be sent to the Graduate Advisor for consideration by the course instructors and the DGS.

711-714 are the core courses in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. The material in these courses forms the basis for the Preliminary Examinations. 710 is an introduction to econometric methods. Exemptions from these courses are rarely granted.

PhD students are expected to achieve an average B grade in the first-year econometrics sequence 709-710. Students failing to average a B grade need to retake the course(s) in which their grade fell below a B. Students need to satisfy the B average requirement for 709 and 710 before the end of their second year for satisfactory progress.

Since there are only three required courses in the Spring, many students opt to take a fourth course in Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, or another field during this time.

3.3.2 Second year and beyond

A main component of the second year of graduate study is major field coursework. Typically, each major field offers one course in the fall and another in the spring, and students in the field must take both courses. In the event that a major field does not offer two courses during a certain year, faculty in the field will specify alternate means of meeting the field’s course requirements. For more information go the the  major field information website .

From the second year onward, students are expected to register for the workshop in their major field. (Students need not register if doing so would lead them to be registered for more than 15 credits; however, workshop attendance is mandatory even in this case.) Workshops provide students with the opportunity to hear research presentations by both internal and external speakers and can serve to suggest topics for dissertation research. Details about schedules, coordinator and speakers can be found at the Events webpage.

Students are also required to satisfy a minor field requirement. To satisfy this requirement, students must take four courses that serve either to broaden their knowledge base or to complement study in the major field. Minor field courses can be in economics or in other fields. Details about the minor field requirement, including a list of suggested courses in the Mathematics and Statistics Departments, can be found on the  minor field information website .

3.3.3 Grading

Both the Department and the Graduate School require students to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 during their course of study. In addition, the Department also requires students to maintain a GPA of 3.0 in their first year core courses, in the courses used to fulfill the major field requirement, and in the courses used to fulfill the minor field requirement.

3.3.4 Degree Requirements

Effective beginning Fall 2014 for new Graduate students.

The Department and Graduate School have established guidelines on the types of coursework and credit that can be applied towards a graduate degree. As students plan their path through the doctoral program, the following requirements should be taken into account regarding eligibility for the Ph.D. and  M.S. (no subplan) degrees:

• A minimum of 51 credits is required for doctoral degrees and 30 credits for master’s degrees;
• At least half of all degree coursework must be completed in courses numbered 700 level or higher;
• The residence requirement specifies that at least 32 credits for the Ph.D. and 16 credits for the M.S. must be taken while a graduate student at UW-Madison;
• In rare situations, with approval from the Graduate Committee in the Department of Economics, prior coursework taken from other institutions or coursework taken as a UW-Madison undergraduate or special student may be counted towards the minimum degree requirements. Please note the following:
• No more than 15 credits of graduate coursework from other institutions may be counted towards the Ph.D. and no more than 7 credits towards the M.S.;
• No more than 7 credits of coursework numbered 7xx level or above taken as a UW-Madison undergraduate may be counted towards the Ph.D. or M.S.;
• No more than 15 credits of coursework numbered 7xx level or above taken as a UW-Madison special student may be counted towards the Ph.D. and no more than 9 credits may be counted towards the M.S.; and
• Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree or five years or more prior to admission to a master’s degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
• Students must also meet the Graduate School  minimum degree requirements .

3.4. Milestones

There are four main milestones on the path through the Economics doctoral program: the preliminary examinations, the field paper, the three-signature proposal, and the final oral examination. Each is explained below.

3.4.1 The preliminary examinations

The first milestones on the path the the Ph.D. are the preliminary examinations in Microeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Theory. The prelims are based on, but not limited to, the material taught in 711-714.

There are two Preliminary Examination Committees, one for each exam. These committees typically include faculty members who most recently taught the relevant first year courses, as well as other members of the faculty. The committees are responsible both for writing the exams and for determining which students have passed the exams. The latter determination is based on the exam grade, with marginal consideration given to performances in relevant courses.

The prelims are offered twice each summer. Students are required to take both prelims in the first attempt, which occurs in early summer after their first year. Students who fail either or both exams on their first attempt retake the exam(s) they did not pass the next time the prelims are offered, which is in late summer. If after the second attempt a student has passed one exam, but not the other, they are granted an automatic third attempt (the following June).

If after the second attempt a student has not passed either exam, the student will be asked to leave the program. Petitions for a third attempt are permitted, but only for unusual circumstances. Petitions should be addressed to the Graduate Committee and be turned in to the Graduate Advisor within one week of the announcement of prelim results. Petitions are evaluated on the basis of past performance on prelims and in coursework, and on the advice of members of the faculty knowledgeable about the student in question. Note, however, that students who pass a prelim on the third attempt are not exempted from any subsequent program deadlines. For this reason, maintaining satisfactory progress in such instances is very demanding, and petitions will be evaluated with this fact in mind. Students who have not passed both exams after their attempts are exhausted are asked to leave the program.

Additional information about the exams can be found on the  preliminary exam information website .

3.4.2 The field paper

In addition to fulfilling the major field course requirements described above, students must also complete a piece of original research on a topic in the major field. Both the procedures for writing the field paper (submission of drafts, etc.) and the decision about whether a submitted paper is acceptable are determined by the faculty in the field in question.

To maintain satisfactory progress through the program, each student must have the field paper approved by the student’s major field by December 15th of the third year of study. Any student who has not had the field paper approved by May 15th of the third year of study must leave the program.

3.4.3 The three-signature proposal

A three-signature proposal is a plan for dissertation research. To complete the 3-sig requirement, a student must first find an Advisor on the Department’s faculty who is willing to supervise the student’s dissertation research. In consultation with this Advisor, the student selects two additional UW-Madison graduate faculty members, at least one of whom is from the Department, to evaluate the proposal. Often, the student’s proposal contains a statement of the questions to be addressed, a description of the proposed solutions, and a discussion of the relevant literature. The 3-sig requirement is complete when each of the three faculty members informs the Graduate Advisor that the proposal is acceptable.

To maintain satisfactory progress through the program, each student must complete a three-signature proposal by December 15th of the fourth year of study (i.e. at the end of the seventh semester). Any student who has not completed this requirement by August 15th (after completing eight semesters) must leave the program. Students should plan to submit their proposals to their advisors at least one month before the relevant deadlines to ensure that there is sufficient time for evaluation.

3.4.4 The dissertation and the final oral examination

The student’s progress through the program culminates in the writing of a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation is a novel contribution to economic knowledge, and a student who completes a dissertation is qualified to perform significant, independent economic research.

The specific requirements for an acceptable dissertation are determined by the student’s Oral Examination Committee. This committee contains four members and typically consists of the student’s faculty advisor, the two other faculty members who evaluated the student’s 3-sig proposal, and one additional faculty member. The committee must include at least two members of the Department faculty; at least one of the four committee members must hold an appointment outside the Department of Economics at UW-Madison; and three of the committee members must be UW–Madison graduate faculty. Three of the four committee members must be designated as readers. For information on graduate school guidelines on doctoral committees, please see this link:  https://grad.wisc.edu/acadpolicy/?policy=committees

When the Oral Examination Committee feels that the dissertation is close to its final form, the student presents the dissertation in a final oral examination. Students should speak to the Graduate Advisor about administrative procedures and other arrangements. Per graduate school guidelines, dissertations must acknowledge contributions received from other individuals as outlined on the graduate school policies and procedures website:  https://grad.wisc.edu/acadpolicy/?policy=dissertation

The graduate program is designed so that most students will complete their final oral examination by the end of their fifth year of study. Students who have not completed their final oral examination by May 15th of their seventh year of study must leave the program.

3.4.5 Progress reports

Students in their fifth and sixth years of study who will not be completing their degree requirements that year must write a two page progress report. The report should describe in brief the contents, current status, and expected completion date of each dissertation chapter, and must be approved by all members of the student’s reading committee. A completed progress report and approvals from all relevant faculty must be received by the Graduate Advisor by May 15th of each relevant year. Students who do not have a committee of three faculty members must form one by August 15. Students who fail to meet this requirement must leave the program.

3.4.6 Summary

The program’s due dates and terminal deadlines are summarized in the table below.

*Only required if the final oral examination is not completed by this date.

3.5 The Master’s Degree

Students who have passed both preliminary exams and the field paper are entitled to receive a Master of Science degree. As there are benefits to obtaining this degree (for instance, eligibility for certain fellowships, and a higher pay rate for summer Federal internships), qualified students are encouraged to do so.

Students who will not complete the Economics Ph.D. program may be eligible to receive a terminal Master’s degree. The requirements for eligibility are as follows:

(i) completion of at least 30 credits of graduate coursework in Economics or other approved courses, including the first-year courses described in section 3.3.1, with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (ii) a grade of B or better in at least three of the following six courses: 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714; (iii) the Graduate School’s  minimum degree requirements  must be met.

Prior to completing these requirements, students should meet with the Graduate Advisor to complete the necessary forms. Back to the Top

4.1. Satisfactory Progress

It is the goal of the graduate program to provide financial support to students who are maintaining satisfactory progress during the first four years and often beyond. The conditions for satisfactory progress are:

• Maintaining a 3.0 GPA.
• Passing both prelims by the end of summer after the first year.
• Earning a B average in the first year econometrics courses (709-710); retaking the applicable course(s) during the second year if the two-course GPA average is less than a 3.0.
• Completing the field paper by December 15th of the third year.
• Completing the three-signature proposal by December 15th of the fourth year.
• Completing annual progress reports by May 15 in any year following the fourth year.
• Performing satisfactorily in teaching assistantships.
• Demonstrating proficiency in English in accordance with University guidelines.

The above requirements are cumulative. That is, for each semester the requirement listed must be met, and all previous requirements must be met in order for support to be provided.

Funding is contingent on:

• Remaining a student in good standing in the department.
• Performing adequately in any teaching or other assigned responsibilities.
• Meeting departmental standards for spoken English proficiency if appointed as a teaching assistant.

4.2 Conditions under which support will typically be withheld:

• Required courses not completed on time.
• Speak test score lower than 45 for teaching assistantships.
• Poor performance in prior assigned assistantships.
• GPA below 3.0.
• Failing both prelims by the second attempt.
• Failing either prelim twice.
• Field paper not passed by Dec. 15th of third year.
• Three signature proposal not completed by December 15th of fourth year.
• Progress report not completed by May 15th of the fifth year or in subsequent years.

The Department offers a limited number of fellowships or scholarships to students in their third year of study and beyond as prizes for exceptional performance in the program.

5. Leaves of Absence

While in most cases participation in the program is continuous through time, students sometimes find it necessary to take a temporary leave of absence. Written requests for a one semester or full year leave of absence should be addressed to the DGS and turned into the Graduate Advisor.

If a student is granted a one semester leave of absence, the milestone due dates and terminal deadlines are pushed back approximately one semester according to the following rules: May 15th becomes August 15th, August 15th becomes December 15th, and December 15th becomes May 15th. If a student is granted a full year leave of absence, all due dates and deadlines are pushed back one year. Back to the Top

6. Conduct Expectations

All students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of professional behavior and ethics. The economics PhD program, the Graduate School, and the Division of Student Life all uphold the UW System policies and procedures for academic and non-academic misconduct. Graduate students are held to the same standards of responsible conduct of research as faculty and staff. Students are responsible for reading the information here as well as the information published on all the relevant web sites. Lack of knowledge of this information does not excuse any infraction.

Additional information regarding Academic Misconduct:

• Graduate School Policy & Procedure: Misconduct, Academic: https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/misconduct-academic/
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards: https://conduct.students.wisc.edu/academic-integrity/
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, Student Resources for Academic Integrity: https://conduct.students.wisc.edu/academic-integrity/student-resources/

Additional information regarding Non-Academic Misconduct:

• Graduate School Academic Policies & Procedures: https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/misconduct-nonacademic/
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, Non-Academic Misconduct Policies: https://conduct.students.wisc.edu/nonacademic-misconduct/nonacademic-misconduct-policies/
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standard,: Non-Academic Misconduct Process: https://conduct.students.wisc.edu/nonacademic-misconduct/nonac-procedures/
• University of Wisconsin System: Chapter UWS 17: Student Non-Academic Disciplinary Procedures: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/uws/17.pdf

Additional information regarding Research Misconduct:

• Graduate School Policies & Procedures: Responsible Conduct of Research https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/responsible-conduct-of-research/
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education’s – Office of Research Policy: Introduction & Guide to Resources on Research Ethics: wisc.edu/respolcomp/resethics/
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education’s Office of Research Policy: Policies, Responsibilities, and Procedures: Reporting Misconduct: wisc.edu/gsadminkb/page.php?id=34486
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education’s Office of Research Policy: Policies, Responsibilities, and Procedures: Responsible Conduct of Research Resources: wisc.edu/gsadminkb/search.php?cat=2907

Students may be disciplined or dismissed from the graduate program for any type of misconduct (academic, non-academic, professional, or research) or failure to meet program expectations regardless of their academic standing in the program.  Separate and apart from a violation of Professional Conduct, a student may face University disciplinary action with regard to the same action.  Concerns about infractions of Professional Conduct may be effectively handled informally between the student and faculty advisor and/or Director of Graduate Studies. However, if a resolution is not achieved, the issue may be advanced for further review by the Department of Economics Faculty Graduate Committee. Back to the Top

7. Grievance Procedure

If a student feels unfairly treated or aggrieved by faculty, staff, or another student, the University offers several avenues to resolve the grievance. Students’ concerns about unfair treatment are best handled directly with the person responsible for the objectionable action. If the student is uncomfortable making direct contact with the individual(s) involved, they should contact the Graduate Advisor or someone else they feel comfortable speaking with. Many departments and schools/colleges have established specific procedures for handling such situations; check their web pages and published handbooks for information. If such procedures exist at the local level, these should be investigated first. For more information see the Graduate School Academic Policies & Procedures > Grievances & Appeals:  https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/grievances-and-appeals/

7.2.1 The student is encouraged to speak first with the person toward whom the grievance is directed to see if a situation can be resolved at this level if they feel safe and comfortable doing so. Students are welcome to seek advice from the Graduate Advisor or others with whom they have a trusting relationship.  

Should a satisfactory resolution not be achieved, the student should contact Graduate Advisor, Director of Graduate Studies, or another faculty or staff member that they feel comfortable with to discuss the grievance (the Graduate Advisor is named in https://econ.wisc.edu/staff/ and the Director of Graduate studies in https://econ.wisc.edu/faculty/) . At this point in the process, this informal discussion would be considered confidential, unless the issue involves certain conduct that university employees are required to report to University Officials (as specified in section 8). The department will facilitate problem resolution through informal channels and facilitate any complaints or issues of students. The first attempt is to help students informally address the grievance prior to any formal complaint. Students are also encouraged to talk with their faculty advisors or the department DEI committee regarding concerns or difficulties if necessary. University resources for sexual harassment, discrimination, disability accommodations, and other related concerns can be found on the UW Dean of Students Office website:  https://doso.students.wisc.edu/report-an-issue/

Other campus resources are listed here. A resource providing “confidential” consultation can help people who want support or information, but do not wish to report. Confidential means they will not share information that identifies the person seeking support without that person’s permission.  

• Dean of Students – doso.students.wisc.edu  
• The Graduate School – https://grad.wisc.edu/  
• McBurney Disability Resource Center – https://mcburney.wisc.edu/  
• Employee Assistance Office – https://hr.wisc.edu/employee-assistance-office/ [This resource provides confidential consultation]  
• Ombuds Office – https://ombuds.wisc.edu/   [This resource provides confidential consultation}  
• University Health Services – https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/ [This resource provides confidential consultation]  
• UW Office of Equity and Diversity – https://diversity.wisc.edu/  

7.2.2 If the issue is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student can submit a formal departmental grievance to the Department Administrator in writing (the Department Administrator is named  in https://econ.wisc.edu/staff/ ) The formal grievance should provide as much detail as possible about the incident(s) or situation(s) of concern.  

On receipt of a written grievance complaint, the Department Chair will be informed and will convene a 3-member faculty committee r to manage the department-level grievance. The program faculty committee will preserve confidentiality if possible and desired and will obtain a written response from the person toward whom the complaint is directed. This response will be shared with the person filing the grievance.  

The faculty committee will determine a decision regarding the grievance. The Department Administrator will report on the action taken by the committee in writing to both the student and the party toward whom the complaint was directed within 15 working days from the date the complaint was received when possible. Details shared with the aggrieved student may be limited by university policies regarding personnel matters or student records.  

At this point, if either party (the student or the person toward whom the grievance is directed) is unsatisfied with the decision of the faculty committee, the party may file a written appeal. Either party has 10 working days to file a written appeal to the committee’s decision through the Department Administrator. Appeals will be reviewed by the Department Chair who will come to a decision within 10 working days from when the appeal was received, when possible.  

Documentation of the grievance will be stored for at least 7 years. Significant grievances that set a precedent will be stored indefinitely.  

7.2.3 The Graduate School has procedures for students wishing to further appeal a grievance decision made at the Department level. These policies are described in the Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures: https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/grievances-and-appeals/.  

Hostile and intimidating behavior, sometimes known by the shorthand term “bullying,” is defined in university policy as “unwelcome behavior pervasive or severe enough that a reasonable person would find it hostile and/or intimidating and that does not further the University’s academic or operational interests.” Hostile and intimidating behavior can occur both within and across employment sectors – faculty on faculty, faculty on student, etc. – and power differentials, and in any university setting (the office, the lab, in the halls, at meetings; it can happen in groups or one-on-one). Regardless of when and how it happens, it must be addressed and corrected. Hostile and intimidating behavior is prohibited by university policy.  

UW–Madison policy includes the following expanded definition:  

Hostile and intimidating behavior is defined as unwelcome behavior pervasive or severe to the extent that it makes the conditions for work inhospitable and impairs another person’s ability to carry out their responsibilities to the university, and that does not further the University’s academic or operational interests. A person or a group can perpetrate this behavior. The person need not be more senior than or a supervisor to the target.  

Unacceptable behavior may include, but is not limited to:  

• Abusive expression (including spoken, written, recorded, visual, digital, or nonverbal, etc.) directed at another person in the workplace, such as derogatory remarks or epithets that are outside the range of commonly accepted expressions of disagreement, disapproval, or critique in an academic culture and professional setting that respects free expression;  
• Unwarranted physical contact or intimidating gestures; Conspicuous exclusion or isolation having the effect of harming another person’s reputation in the workplace and hindering another person’s work;  
• Sabotage of another person’s work or impeding another person’s capacity for academic expression, be it oral, written, or other;  
• Abuse of authority, such as using threats or retaliation in the exercise of authority, supervision, or guidance, or impeding another person from exercising shared governance rights, etc.  

Repeated acts or a pattern of hostile and/or intimidating behaviors are of particular concern. A single act typically will not be sufficient to warrant discipline or dismissal, but an especially severe or egregious act may warrant either.  

For more information: https://hr.wisc.edu/hib/  

Sexual harassment is a community concern. When sexual harassment occurs, it degrades the quality of work and education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It erodes the dignity and productivity of the individuals involved and diminishes the quality, effectiveness, and stature of the institution. It can occur in any university setting (an office, a classroom, a university program). Each of us has a collective responsibility not to harass others and to act responsibly when confronted by the issue of sexual harassment, thereby promoting an environment that better supports excellence in teaching, research, and service. (Taken from: https://compliance.wisc.edu/titleix/)  

What is Sexual Harassment?  

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature (including leering and unwanted personal discussion of sexual activities) constitute sexual harassment when submission to such conduct is a condition of employment, academic progress, or participation in a university program; or submission to or rejection of such conduct influences employment, academic or university program decisions; or the conduct interferes with an employee’s work or a student’s academic career, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work, learning, or program environment.  

Key Points About Sexual Harassment:  

• Differences in power or status can be a significant component in sexual harassment. A person who seems to acquiesce to sexual conduct may still experience tangible action harassment or hostile environment harassment if the conduct is unwelcome.  
• Sexual harassment can occur between any two persons, regardless of their gender identities and sexual orientation.  
• Sexual harassment may or may not involve a tangible injury (e.g., economic loss, lowered grades). A sexually harassing environment, in and of itself, may constitute a harm.  
• Individuals in positions of authority are responsible for ensuring that employees, students or others do not harass. In an academic or program setting, offenders can be faculty, instructors, lecturers, teaching assistants, coaches, tutors, or fellow students or program participants.  
• The person filing a sexual harassment charge does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone significantly harmed by the harassing conduct.  
• Some behavior that is not in violation of university policy may, nonetheless, be unprofessional under the circumstances. Consequences of such unprofessional behavior may include poor performance evaluations or possible discipline.  

What to do if you feel you’ve been sexually harassed:  

• Seek advice. Consult the Graduate Advisor, Department Chair, or someone else you trust. It is important to note that the Department Chair and the Graduate Advisor are Title IX responsible employees who must report information they receive about sexual harassment or sexual violence to the Office of Compliance; however, this report does not trigger a formal complaint or other actions that the complainant doesn’t want, unless there is a serious risk to campus safety. Other staff and faculty may be Title IX responsible employees as well. For more information, please see section 8.3.5.  
• You may choose to seek informal resolution through the Grievance procedures detailed in section 7.1.1 or file a sexual harassment complaint with the UW–Madison Title IX Coordinator. You may find more information on filing a complaint at https://compliance.wisc.edu/titleix/campus-procedures/reporting/. Complaints filed through the UW–Madison Title IX coordinator may lead to an investigation and disciplinary action against the accused. In order to ensure due process and provide for a defense, prior to any formal disciplinary action against someone accused of sexual harassment, the University must inform that person of the details regarding the formal complaint including the identity of the person initiating the complaint. Again, as noted in the previous bullet point, several people involved in the Grievance procedures described in earlier in this section are Title IX responsible employees. For more information, please see  section 8.3.5.  
• For additional information, please visit: https://compliance.wisc.edu/eo-complaint/  
• As listed previously, the following additional resources offer confidential consultation and can help people who want support or information, but do not wish to report. Confidential means they will not share information that identifies the person seeking support without that person’s permission.  
• Employee Assistance Office – eao.wisc.edu [This resource provides confidential consultation]  
• Ombuds Office – ombuds.wisc.edu [This resource provides confidential consultation]  

For more information on discrimination against students and other resources:  

Discrimination Complaints Policies & Procedures: https://compliance.wisc.edu/eo-complaint/

We encourage early contact: consultation is not escalation. Timely discussion of people’s concerns may allow resolution before alternatives become limited. The university will protect confidentiality to the extent possible under the law.  

…if you feel you’ve been sexually harassed:  

• Seek advice. Consult your supervisor, manager, HR representative, department chair, director, dean, or any campus resource to discuss options for resolution.  
• You may choose to seek informal resolution or file a sexual harassment complaint.  
• You may find it helpful to seek support from a trusted colleague. Be aware of your interest in keeping the matter as confidential as possible.  
• Keep notes of what happened, when, where, and who was present. Retain copies of any correspondence.  
• Consider informing the individual(s) involved that the conduct is unwelcome and that you expect it to stop.  

The campus has established policies governing student conduct, academic dishonesty, discrimination, and harassment/abuse as well as specific reporting requirements in certain cases. If you have a grievance regarding unfair treatment towards yourself, please reference the procedures and resources identified above. If you learn about, observe, or witness misconduct or other wrongdoing you may be required to report that misconduct or abuse. Depending on the situation, it may be appropriate to consult with your academic advisor, Graduate Advisor, or other campus resources (such as the UW Office of Equity and Diversity, Graduate School, Mc Burney Disability Resource Center , Employee Assistance Office , Ombuds Office , and University Health Services ).  

8.3.1 Research Misconduct. The University of Wisconsin–Madison strives to foster the highest scholarly and ethical standards among its students, faculty, and staff. Graduate students and research associates are among the most vulnerable groups when reporting misconduct because their source of financial support and the progress in their careers may be at risk by raising questions of wrongdoing. They are also often the closest witnesses to wrongdoing when it occurs and therefore must be appropriately protected from the consequences of reporting wrongdoing and be informed of their rights. Please find full details at https://research.wisc.edu/respolcomp/resethics/  

8.3.2 Academic Misconduct. If you know a classmate is cheating on an exam or other academic exercise, notify your professor, teaching assistant or proctor of the exam. As a part of the university community, you are expected to uphold the standards of the university. Also, consider how your classmate’s dishonesty may affect the overall grading curve and integrity of the program.

8.3.3 Sexual Assault. All UW–Madison employees, including student employees and graduate assistants, are required by law to report first-hand knowledge of sexual assault on campus or disclosures of sexual assault of a student to university officials, specifically the Dean of Students Office. This effort is not the same as filing a criminal report. Disclosing the victim’s name is not required as part of this report. Please find full details under Sexual Assault at https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/survivor-resources/, or https://doso.students.wisc.edu/report-an-issue/sexual-assault- dating-and-domestic-violence/, or https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/survivor-services/reporting-options/ .

8.3.4 Child Abuse. UW–Madison employees (under Wisconsin Executive Order #54 ), are required to immediately report child abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services (CPS) or law enforcement if, in the course of employment, the employee observes an incident or threat of child abuse or neglect, or learns of an incident or threat of child abuse or neglect, and the employee has reasonable cause to believe that child abuse or neglect has occurred or will occur.  

Volunteers working for UW–Madison sponsored programs or activities are also expected to report suspected abuse or neglect. Please find full details at https://youthprotection.wisc.edu/reporting/  

8.3.5 Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence. Certain UW–Madison employees are classified as Title IX responsible employees and therefore have a duty to report to the Title IX Coordinator any information they receive that suggests a violation of campus policy around sexual harassment and sexual violence is occurring or has occurred. They are explicitly not permitted to keep information of this nature that is reported to them confidential. These reports are primarily used to connect complainants/survivors with resources, and do not trigger investigations or other actions the complainant or survivor does not want unless there is a risk to campus safety. Title IX responsible employees include, among others, Deans, Directors, department chairs, department administrators, human resources representatives, and student services staff such as graduate and undergraduate coordinators. Please find full details at https://compliance.wisc.edu/titleix/employee-reporting-requirements/.

8.3.6 Incidents of Bias/Hate. The University of Wisconsin–Madison values a diverse community where all members are able to participate fully in the Wisconsin Experience. Incidents of Bias/Hate affecting a person or group create a hostile climate and negatively impact the quality of the Wisconsin Experience for community members. UW–Madison takes such incidents seriously and will investigate and respond to reported or observed incidents of bias/hate. If you have witnessed or experienced an incident of bias or hate you may contact the Graduate Advisor, Department Chair, or the Department of Economics DEI Committee. More information about the department DEI committee can be found here: https://econ.wisc.edu/econ-dei-committee/ . Please find full details at https://doso.students.wisc.edu/report-an-issue/bias-or-hate-reporting/  

8.4 Reporting Consensual Relationships.  A consensual relationship describes when people agree to a romantic, physically intimate, or sexual relationship now or in the past. This includes marriage. UW–Madison consensual relationships policy applies to employee/student relationships and employee/employee relationships.  

A consensual relationship between an instructor and a student currently under their instruction or whom the instructor reasonably believes in the future may be under their instruction is prohibited.  

If a consensual relationship develops between people who also have another type of reporting or evaluative relationship, the person who is in a position of power must immediately report their consensual relationship to a supervisory authority.  

The university presumes that the ability to make objective decisions is compromised if there is a romantic and/or sexual relationship between two individuals who have a reporting or evaluative relationship. There is almost always a power differential between such individuals that not only obscures objectivity but also influences perceptions of consent. The individual with the power or status advantage is required by university policy to report the relationship to their supervisor and will be accountable for failing to make this report. The supervisor who learns of the consensual relationship has the responsibility to make appropriate arrangements to eliminate or mitigate a conflict whose consequences might prove detrimental to the university or to either party in the relationship, particularly the person in the subordinate role. Supervisors can consult with any campus   resource ( https://kb.wisc.edu/ohr/policies/page.php?id=53039 ) for assistance in meeting this responsibility.  

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• Resources for Students
• Preparing for graduate school

Considerations for prospective graduate students in economics

Students from a wide variety of backgrounds earn graduate degrees in economics. This includes economics and non-economics majors, those with and without prior graduate training, and those with and without prior economics employment experience.

To decide which program is the best fit, potential students should examine their own qualifications (including their GRE scores, their GPA, and their mathematical preparation) as well as the methodological approach, fields of specialization, predominant ideology, size of program, program culture (cooperative, competitive, etc.), typical time-to-degree, required examinations, financial aid, emphasis on mathematics, job prospects, and location of the programs to which they apply.

For those who wish to pursue academic careers, the availability of training in teaching methods during graduate school may also be a consideration.

Some applicants find it useful to contact students at their target programs to find out about current students' perceptions and experiences. Keep in mind that faculty tend to be fairly mobile throughout their careers, so it may be risky to choose a program out of a desire to work with one specific faculty member.

Further reading for students considering graduate study in economics

• Dr. Ajay Shenjoy at UC-Santa Cruz has a YouTube video describing applying to an Economics PhD program in the U.S.
• The Fed has a two-year Research Assistants program that can provide training and experience for those who want to pursue a graduate degree in economics.
• Professor Sita Slavov has a page of tips for applying to PhD Programs in economics .
• The Occidental College Department of Economics has posted a guide called Becoming an Economist .
• Ceyhun Elgin and Mario Solis-Garcia, former PhD students at the University of Minnesota have written: So, you want to go to grad school in Economics? A practical guide of the first years (for outsiders) from insiders.
• The Summer 2014 CSWEP newsletter includes a guide for Getting Into and Finishing a PhD Program .
• The Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) has a list of its newsletter articles for specific audiences , including those focused on undergraduate and graduate students.
• Professor William D. Craighead has a webpage with advice for students interesting in pursuing graduate studies in economics.
• Professor Greg Mankiw at Harvard University has a blog with advice for grad students on various topics.
• Professor David Colander's " The Making of an Economist Redux " reports the findings of surveys and interviews with graduate students at top-ranking economics graduate programs.
• Professors Wendy Stock and John Siegfried published a paper that reports on 15 Years of Research on Graduate Education in Economics: What Have We Learned?
• Professor Marie desJardins has a paper on " How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors ."
• Professor Dick Startz offers " A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics ."

Advice for Phd Students in Economics

This site provides some resources for grad students in economics. if you have useful resources that you would like to be added to this page please reach out to the creators of this page ( chris roth or david schindler ), general grad school advice.

Jaya Wen: Ideas that helped me

Eric Zwick: The 12 Step Program for Grad School

Matthew Pearson: How to survive your first year of graduate school in economics

Chris Roth & David Schindler: Advice for Ph.D. Students

Ingar Haaland: Twitter thread

Berlin School of Economics: Researcher's guide

William Thomson: A Guide for the Young Economist (Book)

P.J. Healy: The Backwards Induction Approach to Grad School

The hidden curriculum (podcast)

Chris Blattman: Various pieces of professional advice (the advice blogposts can be found in the right panel of his webpage)

Advice for Grad Students on the Greg Mankiw Blog

World Bank Blogs: Curated Miscellanea: Interviews, Advice, Policy Debates, and Commonly Referred to Posts

Andrew Oswald: Things I would have found it useful to have been told when I was a young researcher 

Jeffrey Smith: Advice on Graduate School in Economics

Jennifer Doleac resource collection

Shanjun Li collection of resources

INOMICS PhD Advice

The Econ Resources & Grad School Wiki

Tobias Klein: Links for PhD students

Alex Albright: various resources 

Quan Le: collection of resources

Keith Head: collection of resources

Albert Ma: A beautiful mind

Natalia Emanuel: collection of resources Thriving in Economics book series: (separate books for PhD students & for those aspiring to a PhD)

Marc F. Bellemare’s Doing Economics book

Mitali Mathur: Flourishing in the First Year

Applying to Grad School

Chris Blattman’s application advice 

Berkeley’s advice on statements of purpose

Susan Athey: Professional advice

Miles Kimball: The complete guide to getting into an economics PhD program

Elgin et al.: So you want to go to grad school in economics?

Rachael Meager: For the ambitious, prospective Ph.D. student

Natalie Duncombe: Applying to graduate school

Natalie Duncombe: Preparing for the NSF

Alex Lang NSF GRFP

Advice for PhD Econ aspirants from India

Jesse Shapiro: Notes on Applying for a PhD in economics

Harvard-MIT Application Assistance and Mentoring Program (AAMP)  (bottom of admission pages: https://economics.mit.edu/academic-programs/phd-program/admissions ) 

LSE Applicant Mentoring Program is now across multiple schools and has the following landing page: 

https://sites.google.com/view/econphdamp/home

Matt Lowe: How to Generate Ideas

Matt Lowe: Idea creation in class

Paul Niehaus: Doing research

Steve Pischke: How to get started in research? 

Don Davis: PhD Thesis Research: Where do I start? 

Frank Schilbach: 5 steps towards a paper

Shiv Hastawala: Developing ideas for applied micro development papers

Some principles of Econ Theory research

Krishna Srinivasan: Is an idea worth pursuing? Checklist

From Ideas to Papers

Ricardo Dahis: Advice for Academic Research

Matthew Lebo: Managing Your Research Pipeline

Sam Lynch: Managing Your Research Pipeline

Jesse Shapiro: Four Steps to an Applied Micro Paper

Amy Finkelstein: Most projects fail ... and other things I've learned from (trying to do) empirical work

Amy Finkelstein: An unofficial guide to trying to do empirical work

Hal Varian : How to Build an Economic Model in your Spare Time

Ben Olken’s epic fails

Podcast on Behavioral Science Research and how it is made  

Mental Health

Frank Schilbach: Resources on mental health

Scott Cunningham: Mental Health and Success

Chris Roth: Practical Advice on Meditation

Eric Zwick: Love te Market

John Cawley’s guide on the US Job Market

Chicago students' Economics Job Market Advice

David Smerdon: How to survive the economics job market

David Schindler: Guide to the European Job Market

Michela Carlana: EEA Guide for European Job Market Candidates

Johannes Pfeifer: Job Market Resources

Michael Ewens: Job Market Websites

Kelsi Hobbs: Job Market Materials

AYEW: Economics Job Market Roundtable

Kim Cramer: Columbia Job Market Advice

The European Job Market for Economists Info Session 2022: Slides Part I , Slides Part III , Slides Part IV

The European Job Market for Economists Info Session 2023: Slides Part I , Slides Mental Health , Slides Part III , Slides Part IV , Slides Part V

Claudia Goldin & Lawrence Katz: The Ten Most Important Rules of Writing Your Job Market Paper

John Cochrane: Writing Tips for Ph.D. Students

Plamen Nikolov: Writing Tips for Economics Research Papers

Claudia Sahm: Writing Economics Research Papers  

Don Cox: The Big 5, How to write the introduction of a presentation (and paper)

Arthur Turell: Writing Papers

Keith Head: Formula for writing an introduction

Albert Ma: On Writing Economics Papers

Eric Sims’s PhD & Writing Workshop

Datasets and coding

Pietro Biroli collects list of datasets for applied work and gives wise suggestions 

Martin Halla: Microdata

Coding for Economists  

Julian Reif: Stata Coding Guide

Gabor Bekes and Gabor Kezdi: Data Analysis

Presentations

Jesse Shapiro: How to Give an Applied Micro Talk

Monika Piazzesi: Tips on how to avoid disaster in presentations

Kjetil Storesletten: The Ten Commandments for How to Give a Seminar

Rachael Meager: Public Speaking for Academic Economists

LSE: How to design an award-winning poster

Resources for research assistants

Econ RA India

https://raguide.github.io/

https://github.com/gslab-econ/ra-manual/wiki/Introduction

https://povertyaction.github.io/guides/

Stata Coding Guide

Conferences

Amma Panin and Marco Schwarz list of conferences and workshops in Behavioral and Experimental Economics

Barton Willage and Anne Burton's list of Econ conferences

Apurav Bhatiya: Conferences in Political Economy

AEA CSWEP: Getting research funding  

Matthew Jackson and Laura Razzolini: Getting funding from the NSF

Anne Byrne: Small Grants

Economic Science Association: Junior Women in Experimental Economics

AEA: Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession

AEA: Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Profession

EEA: Women in Economics

Women in Economics: Mentoring Program

LSE: The Economics PhD Applicant Mentoring Program

Andrea Passalacqua: Guidelines to Write a Referee Reports

Berk, Harvey, Hirshleifer: How to Write an Effective Referee Report and Improve the Scientific Review Process 

Berk, Harvey, Hirshleifer: Preparing a Referee Report: Guidelines and Perspectives

Hammermesh: Facts and Myths about Refereeing

JFE: Advice for Referees

When refereeing be aware of biases against null results 

• New releases
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• Meet the team
• Take our survey
• Donate to 80,000 Hours
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• Acknowledgements
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Economics PhDs

By Roman Duda · Published June 2015

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Economics PhDs  

On this page:.

• 1 Research process
• 2 What is this career path?
• 3 Entry requirements
• 4.1 Doing high impact research
• 4.2 Advocacy potential
• 4.3 Other benefits
• 5 What are the downsides of doing an economics PhD?
• 6 Who should consider doing an economics PhD?
• 7 Next steps
• 8 Learn more
• 9 Get free, one-on-one career advice

An economics PhD is one of the most attractive graduate programs: if you get through, you have a high chance of landing an impactful research job in academia or policy. In particular, academic economics is one of the best ways of conducting and promoting global priorities research, one of our priority paths . You have back-up options in the corporate sector since the skills you learn are in-demand (unlike many PhD programs). You should especially consider an economics PhD if you want to go into research roles, are good at math (i.e. quant GRE score above 165) and have a proven interest in economics research.

• • Decent chance of entering economics academia, which has potential for highly valuable research (such as contributing to global priorities research) and the option of working on topics in related social sciences.
• • In demand by think-tanks, government departments and international organisations (e.g. IMF, World Bank).
• • Gain a broad set of tools for understanding how the social world works and evaluating causes and interventions.
• • High degree of autonomy when writing your dissertation.
• • Backup options in the corporate sector.
• • Takes a long time (5-7 years), with low pay.
• • Doing highly open-ended research provides little feedback which can be unmotivating.

Key facts on fit  

You can test your ability and interest by taking classes in economics, math and statistics either at your university or online. You don’t need an economics undergraduate degree to enter but proven math ability is required, so make sure you study quantitative subjects. See this guide to getting into an economics PhD program.

Get free, one-on-one career advice

We’ve helped hundreds of people compare between their options and introduced them to people who can help them with their career. If you’re interested in using an economics PhD to work on issues like global priorities research or artificial intelligence policy , apply for our free coaching service :

Apply for coaching

Recommended

If you are well suited to this career, it may be the best way for you to have a social impact.

Review status

Based on a shallow investigation 

Table of Contents

Research process

For this profile, we interviewed economist Robin Hanson and read the following sources. See all our research in our wiki .

What is this career path?

In this profile we focus on doing an Economics PhD in the US, which usually takes 5-7 years. 1 In the first two years you take classes and the remaining time is spent on writing a dissertation. You usually have to teach during your PhD. More detail on what you do in each phase is here . At the end, you usually apply for jobs through the centrally organised Job Openings for Economists , which is run by the American Economic Association, or you can apply for jobs independently.

Entry requirements

An economics major isn’t required but you need proven math ability and it helps to have taken mathematical economics classes.

You also need:

• A high score on the quantitative reasoning section of the GRE – 165 (90th percentile for all individuals taking the GRE) or higher for most programs. If your score is less than 160, your chances are very low. 2
• A high GPA (3.5+), especially in economics and mathematics. 3
• Excellent letters of recommendation from academics; ideally, those that are well-known.

Can you enter from a non-quantitative background? It’s possible, but difficult. You’ll need to spend one to three years retraining. See some advice on how to meet the entry requirements if you have a non-quantitative undergraduate degree .

Why should you do an economics PhD?

Doing high impact research.

Research in economics academia is a potentially very high impact option because you can work on priority cause areas, like global priorities research or AI policy . For example, to contribute to global priorities research you might work on the economics of existential risk and long-term trajectory change, while the macroeconomics, political economy and industrial organisation of AI will be important for developing informed AI policy.

Doing such research is a realistic option because Economics professors get a lot freedom to do research across a wide range of topics and disciplines. That also gives you great option value for future research. 4 You often even get a high degree of autonomy with your dissertation and aren’t forced to specialise narrowly in your advisor’s research interests, giving you freedom to pursue research topics that you most want to work on during your PhD itself (though we’ve heard that sometimes there is pressure to choose topics with higher publication and job market value).

If you do an economics PhD, you have a decent chance of getting a job as an academic: Data indicates that more than half of economics PhD’s get jobs in academia after their PhD. 5

Non-academic research

If you don’t get a job in academia, or if you don’t want to, there are other important sectors that explicitly hire economics PhD’s, including:

• Government (e.g. Federal Reserve, Treasury, Department of Justice)
• Nonprofit research organisations and think-tanks (e.g. RAND , National Bureau of Economic Research)
• International organisations (e.g. World Bank, International Monetary Fund)

The impact you can have in these jobs tends to be more direct and focused on specific issues than in academia. Many of these jobs are advertised on the Job Openings for Economists , which means you don’t have to apply for them separately from academic jobs.

Advocacy potential

Having an economics PhD also puts you in a position to build a public platform and become a public intellectual through journalism and writing books.

You can also influence policy through your research, though some claim that most of the time economists just provide arguments for people with pre-existing views. However there could be room for outsized influence if you provide policy recommendations on issues that are orthogonal to popular disputes, 6 and our guess is that in the long-run economists can change conventional wisdom about what is good policy. You might do this by engaging directly with policy or by conducting academic research on the most pressing problems in order to shift the research priorities of the economics community. Examples of organisations working on the latter are the Global Priorities Institute and the Forethought Foundation .

Other benefits

• You gain a broad set of tools for understanding how the social world works, which is helpful for evaluating causes and interventions. This may help you better evaluate your future career options to have more impact. A notable example of this in action is the founding of GiveDirectly (one of GiveWell’s top recommended charities), which was founded by economics PhD students.
• Excellent job prospects: You are nearly guaranteed a job. The unemployment rate for economics PhD’s is very low (0.8% in 2013) and data indicates that it has the lowest unemployment rate of all science and engineering PhD’s. 7 You also get the benefit of the centrally organised Job Openings for Economists , which allows you to apply to many different jobs in a short period of time and interview for them at the same time, in the same place.
• Academic salaries for economics PhD’s tend to be higher than other PhD’s. The median pay for those who gained economics PhD’s in 2013 and were in full-time employment at a university was $108,000, which is higher than all other science PhD’s. 8 Moreover, the jobs outside of academia which economics PhD’s get are higher paid than non-academic jobs other PhD’s get. 9

What are the downsides of doing an economics PhD?

• You have a relatively low income whilst doing your PhD and have to work very long hours.
• You spend 5-7 years getting exposure only to academia, making this option less good for exploration value.
• The high degree of autonomy you get means there is little external structure on your time, which can be stressful, and you get very little feedback about how well you are doing which can be demotivating.
• Many PhD economists end up in academic jobs where they spend a large portion of their time teaching, leaving less time for research. 10

Who should consider doing an economics PhD?

Commonly given advice is that you should only do an economics PhD if you:

• Are good at math and enjoy formal models in economics
• Are willing to study 50-80 hours per week (hours are particularly long in the first year)
• Love intellectual pursuits and have a strong drive to do self-directed research. 11

If you meet those conditions, then an economics PhD may be a good option for you if you want to go into economics academia or if you want to do high-level research at think-tanks or international organisations.

To get a sense of what academic research looks like, try reading published papers in major journals, such as the American Economic Review ( here is one paper ). You can then test your ability and interest by taking classes in economics, math and statistics either at your university or online.

If you are interested in global priorities research, read our problem profile on the topic, and the research agenda of the Global Priorities Institute.

There are many guides online to getting into an economics PhD. We recommend that you start by reading this one , and then read a few of the others . If you’re applying from a non-quantitative background, see these tips by one of our users.

• Ideas for research questions in economics
• Noah Smith – If you get a PhD, get an economics PhD
• All our articles on Economics PhD’s
• Publishing and Promotion in Economics: The Tyranny of the Top Five by James J. Heckman and Sidharth Moktan
• Podcast: Dr Eva Vivalt’s research suggests social science findings don’t generalize. So evidence-based development – what is it good for?
• Podcast: David Roodman on incarceration, geomagnetic storms, & becoming a world-class researcher
• Podcast: Rachel Glennerster on how “market shaping” could help solve climate change, pandemics, and other global problems
• Podcast: Prof Yew-Kwang Ng is a visionary economist who anticipated many key ideas in effective altruism decades ago. Here’s his take on ethics and how to create a much happier world.
• Podcast: Mushtaq Khan on using institutional economics to predict effective government reforms
• Podcast: Economist Bryan Caplan on whether lazy parenting is OK, what really helps workers, and betting on beliefs

Notes and references

• See our wiki. ↩
• GRE Guide Table 1a and A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics ↩
• “An overall GPA of at least 3.5 is a prerequisite. It is not uncommon to see an almost perfect GPA among top candidates.” Tips on Applying to Top Graduate Programs in Economics ↩
• “What other profession gives you so much freedom to choose your research topics? Many economists now devote their careers to studying topics which an outsider would classify as political science, psychology, or sociology. Some economists even do work that basically amounts to history or philosophy, though they probably need to work on more conventional topics until they get tenure.” Bryan Caplan – Is the Econ Ph.D. a Free Lunch? ↩
• “Among the successful job seekers, 62.8 percent found employment in academic institutions as compared to 61.0 percent in the 2013-14 year.” Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Arkansas. SURVEY OF THE LABOR MARKET FOR NEW PH.D. HIRES IN ECONOMICS 2015-2016 See also National Science Foundation. TABLE 61. Statistical profile of postgraduation plans of doctorate recipients in social sciences fields, by sex and field of study: 2013 ↩
• “Economists rarely influence policy as advisors for people who haven’t made up their minds and want advice. Instead, people who favor a certain position generally seek policy advisors who they will expect will provide arguments favoring their position. So economists, and other policy advisors, often have influence mainly by providing ammunition for advocates of the views they support. There is more room for influence if you provide policy recommendations that are orthogonal to popular disputes.” The value of economics PhDs: A conversation with Robin Hanson ↩
• National Science Foundation. Table 4-1. Unemployment rate among doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate: 2013 ↩
• National Science Foundation. Table 54. Median annual salaries of full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate and sector of employment: 2013 ↩
• In 2013 Economics PhD’s had the highest median starting salaries of all science doctorates in government ($137,000), nonprofits ($135,000), and for-profit private companies ($148,000). National Science Foundation. Table 54. Median annual salaries of full-time employed doctoral scientists and engineers, by field of doctorate and sector of employment: 2013 ↩
• “…many econ PhDs teach college level courses while conducting very little research.” A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics ↩
• A Guide for UCSB Undergraduates Considering a PhD in Economics ↩

More about our PhD Program and our Research Associates Program

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INSIGHTS aims to build a bridge between academia, policy makers and the wider public.

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General information

• PhD Program

The Berlin School of Economics PhD Program provides outstanding doctoral students with a vibrant, intensively networked research community. The program develops the students’ talents in a unique combination of a high-level, academic research environment together with applied, policy-oriented research opportunities. Students receive state-of-the-art coursework training and can select from a wide array of specializations. For each specialization, a professional research environment is provided by Berlin’s universities and economic research institutes.

How to apply

Course catalog

Program structure and curriculum

All PhD tracks offered in the PhD Program share the same structure and general curriculum. The program’s curriculum is divided into a qualification and a dissertation phase:

Qualification Phase

During the qualification phase (about three semesters), students acquire methodological and research-oriented training in mandatory course work in economic theory, applied economics, business studies, econometrics, and economic policy. Students define their research area and find supervisory support from two supervisors. They write research proposals that are discussed with faculty members individually and in seminars in order to provide early feedback on the scientific potential of research ideas. This is a central part of the PhD Program, in which the students have full flexibility in the choice of their research topics and of the supervisors. During this phase, students are funded through stipends that allow for this flexibility. In total, students have to complete a  minimum of 90 ECTS credits  in order to finish the qualification phase of the program.

Dissertation Phase

During the subsequent dissertation phase (about three years), students write a doctoral thesis while having the opportunity to apply their knowledge in the professional research environment that is provided at the Berlin universities and research institutes participating in the Berlin School of Economics. In this phase, students are typically employed at their supervisor’s chair or in research groups at research institutes.

The PhD will be awarded by one of the institutions in the Berlin School of Economics with the right to award doctoral degrees. In most cases, the PhD is awarded by the institution the student’s first supervisor is affiliated with.

The following chart gives an overview of the general structure of the PhD Program:

Researchers Guide

This guide includes academic advices from the researchers of the Berlin School of Economics.

Special thanks to the INSIGHTS Team, researchers of Berlin School of Economics, Agne Kajackaite, Aleks Zaklan, Alexander Kriwoluzky, Ally Xin Lin, Annekatrin Schrenker, C. Katharina Spieß, Christian Basteck, Ciril Bosch-Rosa, Dorothea Kübler, Francis de Véricourt, Georg Weizsäcker, Gyula Seres, Hande Erkut, Hannes Ullrich, Jana Hamdan, Levent Neyse, Lisa Bruttel, Lutz Weinke, Mira Fischer, Müge Süer, Nikolaus Wolf, Peter Haan, Robert Stüber, Sebastian Schweighofer-Kodritsch, Simone Maxand, Vincent Meisner, and Pablo Brañas-Garza.

You can download the web version

or print the printable version

Also note the compiled information on our website about support and resources, for example Mental Health.