Professors: R.S. Goldfarb, A.M. Yezer, J.J. Cordes, J. Pelzman, R.P. Trost, B.L. Boulier, M.D. Bradley, S.C. Smith, P. Labadie, G.L. Kaminsky, D.O. Parsons, R.F. Phillips, J. Foster, M.O. Moore, N. Vonortas, F.L. Joutz, S. Joshi, A.S. Malik, V. Fon

Associate Professors: S.M. Suranovic, W.P. Mullin, R. M. Samaniego, C. Wei, M.X. Chen, T. Sinclair

Assistant Professors:, A. Fostel, P. Carrillo, I. Foster

Doctor of Philosophy in the field of economics —The Ph.D. program involves study in two sequential units. Unit I includes satisfactory completion of required course work, and passing the General Examination. This first unit must be concluded within five years after entry into the program. Upon successful completion of Unit I, students are considered for admission to Unit II, the dissertation stage, which must be completed within five years after entry. In all cases, however, the student is expected to complete the doctorate within eight years after admission.

Students must meet the general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Unit I:

For Unit I, requirements include core theory and econometrics courses—Econ 8301, 8302, 8303, 8305, 8306, 8307, 8375, and 8376—plus 24 additional credits of 8000-level (or approved 6000-level) course work and passing the Comprehensive Examinations.

General Examination: The General Examination consists of two preliminary examinations, one in microeconomic theory and one in macroeconomic theory, and two field examinations. Students must take the preliminary examinations within three semesters of entering the program and before any field examinations are taken.

Field examinations are given in econometrics, economic development, environmental and natural resource economics, health economics, industrial organization, international economics, international finance, labor economics, monetary theory and policy, public finance, and regional and urban economics. To pass the General Examination, students must earn a grade of "satisfactory pass" or better in the preliminary examinations in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and in one of the two field examinations and no grade below "bare pass." Two of the examinations, preliminary or field, may be taken a second time with the approval of the Department. No further opportunity to take the examinations is permitted. Substitution of a field examination (in an area not originally chosen by the student) to satisfy the requirements of the General Examination is equivalent to taking a field examination a second time.

Students should consult with the professors responsible for their fields and notify the Department two months in advance of their intention to take the examinations. If such notification is not given sufficiently in advance, it may not be possible to sit for the examination.

Unit II:

For Unit II, the requirements include formulation of an acceptable dissertation proposal, completion of a dissertation that demonstrates the candidate's ability to do original research, and 24 credits of additional graduate course work, of which at least 12 credits must be dissertation research. Students, including those who have an accepted dissertation proposal, must enroll in a dissertation proposal seminar (Econ 8397) in the first semester after promotion to Unit II. Satisfactory performance in the seminar will be equivalent to 3 credits of Unit II course work. In cases where knowledge outside the discipline of economics is critical to the student's research field, up to 6 credits in Unit II may consist of required courses outside the Economics Department. Departmental prerequisite: Courses at the 300 level are specifically designed for economics graduate students and typically require knowledge of calculus and one or more of the core theory and econometrics courses. Less-well-prepared graduate students in other disciplines may register for 6000-level courses after having completed Econ 6217–18 or 6218 and 6219, or 2101/2103 and 2102/2104, unless the course description indicates that these prerequisites have been waived. Intermediate-level micro and macro courses taken elsewhere usually satisfy this requirement, but introductory or first-year courses do not. Graduate students in economics can take 6000-level courses only with permission of their advisor.

8301

Microeconomic Theory I (3) (old course #: 301)

Joshi, Fon

Theory of unconstrained optimization; optimization subject to equality and inequality constraints, along with applications. Profit maximization, utility maximization and cost minimization, concave and quasi-concave functions, monotone comparative statics, duality theory, the envelope theorem and Le Chatelier principle, and the Kuhn–Tucker conditions. (Fall)

8302

Microeconomic Theory II (3)(old course #: 302)

Joshi, Fon

Expected utility theory, general equilibrium in a pure exchange economy and economy with production, welfare theorems and the core theory of the competitive firm in the short run and long run, monopoly and price discrimination, models of oligopoly. Prerequisite: Econ 8301. (Spring)

8303

Microeconomic Theory III (3) (old course #: 303)

Joshi, Fon

Theory of games, including Nash equilibrium and its refinements and comparative statics, evolutionary game theory, multistage games and subgame perfection, repeated games and oligopolistic supergames, static and dynamic Bayesian games, auction theory, and bargaining theory. Prerequisite: Econ 8302. (Spring)

8305

Macroeconomic Theory I (3) (old course #: 305)

Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Wei

Alternative theories of income, employment, and the price level; impact of monetary and fiscal policy; role of expectations in the economy; and microfoundations of macroeconomic models and dynamic analysis. (Fall)

8306

Macroeconomic Theory II (3) (old course #: 306)

Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Wei

Extensions of alternative models of income determination, economic growth, and the application of analytical frameworks to the U.S. and international economies. Prerequisite: Econ 8305. (Spring)

8307

Macroeconomic Theory III (3) (old course #: 307)

Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Samaniego

Extensions to stochastic and dynamic general equilibrium frameworks, with emphasis on economic policy. Prerequisite: Econ 8306. (Fall)

8323–24

Monetary Theory and Policy (3–3)

(old course #: 323-24)

Labadie, Bradley

Theory of monetary policy within the framework of contemporary American central banking. (Academic year)

8341–42

Labor Economics (3–3) (old course #: 341-42)

Parsons

Theory of wages and employment, analysis of labor supply and demand. Analysis of unemployment; unions; wage regulation. (Academic year)

8345–46

Industrial Organization (3–3)
(old course #: 345-46)

Mullin

Econ 8345: Economic theory and evidence regarding industrial market structure, conduct, and economic performance. Econ 8346: Economic issues in antitrust and government regulation of the U.S. economy. Econ 8345 is prerequisite to Econ 8346.(Academic year)

8351

Development Economics I (3) (old course #: 351)

Smith, J. Foster

Major analytic concepts, measures, theoretical models, and empirical methods of development economics. (Fall)

8352

Development Economics II (3) (old course #: 352)

Smith, J. Foster

Continuation of Econ 8351. In-depth examination of special research topics with emphasis on methods in applied microeconomics. (Fall and spring)

8357

Regional Economics (3) (old course #: 357)

Yezer

Study of regional planning and growth models, including input–output, programming, and econometric models used by planning agencies; analysis of interregional production, trade, migration, firm location, and pricing models. (Fall)

8358

Urban Economics (3) (old course #: 358)

Yezer

Analysis of spatial relationships among economic activities within an urban area including the urban land, labor, and housing markets; urban transportation models; fiscal relationships among jurisdictions. (Spring)

8363

Public Finance I (3) (old course #: 363)

Cordes

Theoretical and empirical analysis of the economic role of the public sector and the effects of public expenditures on resource allocation and income distribution. Topics include public goods, externalities, social insurance, and benefit–cost analysis.(Fall)

8364

Public Finance II (3) (old course #: 364)

Cordes

Theoretical and empirical analysis of the effects of taxes and transfers on the allocation of resources and income distribution. Topics include partial and general equilibrium models of tax incidence, effects of taxes on labor supply, saving, and portfolio choices of households and on investment and financing decisions of firms.(Spring)

8375

Econometrics I (3) (old course #: 375)

Phillips, Trost, McCoskey

Statistical foundations for econometrics; standard methods of estimation and inference for classical and generalized regression models. Same as Stat 8275. (Fall)

8376

Econometrics II (3) (old course #: 376)

Phillips, Trost

Topics may include asymptotic theory, statistical endogeneity, instrumental variables estimation, discrete and limited dependent variable models, and time–series models. Prerequisite: Econ 8375. Same as Stat 8276. (Spring)

8377

Econometrics III (3) (old course #: 377)

Phillips, Trost

Econometric methods for systems of equations and panel data, with additional topics that may vary from year to year. Prerequisite: Econ 8376.

8378

Economic Forecasting (3) (old course #: 378)

Joutz

Introduction to the theoretical and applied aspects of economic forecasting. Topics include the role of forecasting, univariate time-series analysis, single equation models, multiple series models, and evaluation of forecasts. Prerequisite: Econ 8375 or equivalent or permission of instructor. (Spring)

8379

Laboratory in Applied Econometrics (3)
(old course #: 379)

Trost, Joutz, Phillips, Sinclair

Application of econometric theory and the use of econometric software; students are required to write an empirical research paper. The course usually deals exclusively with either micro or macroeconomic issues. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs.

8381

International Trade Theory (3) (old course #: 381)

Moore, Pelzman, Suranovic

International trade theory, including alternative models of the gains from trade and evaluations of the new justifications for protectionism, and analysis of commercial policy, factor flows, and trade and investment with multinational corporations. Prerequisite: most sections require calculus or permission of instructor. (Fall)

8382

International Finance and Open-Economy Macroeconomics (3) (old course #: 382)

Kaminsky

International finance, including alternative models of balance of payments behavior and adjustment, payments accounting, exchange markets, and alternative exchange-rate regimes. (Spring)

8395

Advanced Special Topics (3) (old course #: 395)

Staff

Topics vary depending upon current interests and faculty availability. Open to graduate students in economics. May be repeated for credit.

8397

Dissertation Proposal Seminar (3)

(old course #: 397)

Staff

Limited to Doctor of Philosophy candidates in Unit II. Critical analysis of current research. Formulation of a dissertation proposal and development of dissertation research strategies.

8398

Advanced Reading and Research (arr.)
(old course #: 398)

Staff

Limited to students preparing for the Doctor of Philosophy general examination. May be repeated for credit.

8399

Dissertation Research (arr.) (old course #: 399)

Staff

Limited to Doctor of Philosophy candidates. May be repeated for credit.