North American
Doctoral Programs
in Economics:
An Overview
Marek Hlaváč
June 14th, 2011
Ph.D. Program Rankings
-
U.S. doctoral programs in Economics are highly regarded
- Top tier:
-
Harvard
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
University of Chicago
Stanford University
Princeton University
UC-Berkeley, University of British Columbia, etc.
Ph.D. Program Rankings
- European programs modeled after the U.S. system:
- CentER (Tilburg)
- ECARES (Brussels)
- Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona)
- Stockholm School of Economics/Stockholm
University
- Bocconi University (Milan)
- CERGE (Prague)
2 + 3 = 5 years
- First two years:
- Final three (or more) years:
Coursework
Research
- Ph.D. students usually fully funded:
- Years 1 and 2: often, no strings attached
- Years 3+:
-
Research Assistantship
Teaching Fellowship
First Year
- Microeconomics
- I:
- II:
Consumer and Producer Theory
Game Theory, Mechanism Design, etc.
- Macroeconomics
- I:
- II:
Growth Theory
Models to Study Fluctuations
- Statistics and Econometrics
- Mathematics for Economists (or Math Camp)
Second Year
- Field Electives:
-
Advanced Microeconomics
Advanced Macroeconomics
Advanced Econometrics
Labor, Public or Health Economics
Development Economics
Industrial Organization
Financial Economics, Asset Pricing
Political Economy
Economic History (largely neglected)
Years 3+
-
Dissertation research
-
Proposal
3 shorter papers, rather than one long dissertation
-
-
Committee:
-
-
“Essays in International Trade”, “Essays in Public Economics”
Usually three members
One principal advisor
Job market (Year 5+)
-
“flyouts”
job market paper
Textbooks
- Microeconomics
Mas-Colell, Whiston and Green (MWG): Microeconomic Theory
Varian: Microeconomic Analysis
Recommendations:
Jeny, Rehle: Advanced Microeconomic Theory
Nicholson: Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions
Textbooks
- Macroeconomics
Barro and Sala-i-Martin: Economic Growth
Freshwater:
Blanchard and Fischer: Lectures on Microeconomics
Obstfeld and Rogoff: Foundations of International Macroeconomics
Saltwater:
Ljungvist and Sargent: Recursive Macroeconomic Theory
Textbooks
- Econometrics
Greene: Econometric Analysis
Recommendations:
Kennedy: A Guide to Econometrics
Angrist and Pischke: Mostly Harmless Econometrics
Publish or Perish
- Top four economics journals:
-
American Economic Review
Journal of Political Economy
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Econometrica
- Political Science
- American Political Science Review
- International Organization
Publish or Perish
- Field journals:
-
Journal of Economic Theory
Journal of Finance
Journal of Development Economics
Journal of Health Economics
Journal of Public Economics
Journal of Labor Economics
Useful Websites and Books
- EconPhD:
http://econphd.econwiki.com/
- Resources for Economists (RfE):
http://www.aeaweb.org/rfe/
- Colander: The Making of an Economist – Redux
http://community.middlebury.edu/~colander/
North American
Doctoral Programs
in Economics:
An Overview
Marek Hlavac
June 14th, 2011