The rigorous training and applied nature of the department’s core offerings and doctoral fields provide the analytical expertise and practical experience for both domestic and international positions.

Students fulfill a standard set of core requirements and qualify in one major doctoral field. Students must complete the coursework described below, pass the written and oral qualifying examinations, complete a satisfactory dissertation, and defend it in an oral examination.  A typical program for the doctoral student may be envisioned to focus study in the following way:

 

Year	Fall	Spring
1	ECON 308, ECON 316, ECON 381, TNDY Class	ECON 317, ECON 382, ECON 302
Take Microeconomics and Econometrics Qualifying Exams
2	ECON 383, ECON 328a, Field course 1, Field course 2	ECON 328b, Field course 3, Field course 4
3	Research workshops / ECON 322,  Elective 1 , Elective 2	Research workshops / ECON 322,  Elective 3
Dissertation Proposal
4+	Work on dissertation

Admission. Admission requirements are detailed in the Admissions section of the current Policies and General Information Bulletin.

University Policies. Policies detailed in the current Policies and General Information Bulletin apply.

Degree Requirements

Coursework.  A minimum of 72 units of graduate-level coursework is required, including completion of the core course requirements listed below. 

Field of Study/Concentration.  Student must successfully complete 20 units in one of the following concentrations: Applied Microeconomics, International Economics and Development Policy (IEDP), or International Money and Finance (IMF; new admissions to IMF paused for the 21/22 academic year). Students must inform the department which Field of Study/Concentration they have chosen and it will appear on their transcript. For interfield students, some of the economics fields require only 16 units and in accordance with interfield degree regulations, the Field of Study/Concentration will not appear on their transcript. 

Transdisciplinary Course Requirement.    All CGU PhD students are required to take 4 units of Transdisciplinary studies coursework. 

Research Tool.  Completion of the institutional research tool requirement. This requirement is met by successful completion of the  Econometrics (ECON381-383) sequences.  Other guidelines and forms are available on the registrar’s Research Tools webpage. Upon successful completion of core courses and qualifying examinations, research tools will be recorded.

Qualifying Exams.    Successful completion of core qualifying examinations in Microeconomics and Econometrics is required for all students in the Economics PhD program. Students who choose the International Economics Development Policy (IEDP) or the International Money and Finance (IMF) field of study/concentration are required to complete a third qualifying exam in that area. Exams are comprehensive and written by those most closely involved with the area being examined. Each core qualifying exam (Microeconomics and Econometrics) is scheduled twice each year, while field exams are scheduled as needed. Failure to pass the required qualifying exams results in the student’s termination from the doctoral program.  Two attempts are permitted for each qualifying exam.  A third attempt may be petitioned to the examination committee, Dean, and Provost, however, approval is generally subject to the student having passed other qualifying exams. 

Practical Experience Milestone. See below.

Dissertation.  Dissertation procedures are detailed in the current Policies and General Information Bulletin.

Core Requirements (16 units)

Mathematics (4 units)*

• ECON 308 - Math for Economists (4 units)

*Students who enter the program with an equivalent version of this course, for example, from a master’s degree program, may skip this requirement with faculty permission. Students who take the course for credit may count the course as an elective.

Microeconomics (8 units)  

• ECON 316 - Consumer Theory and General Equilibrium (4 units) 

*Students who need a brush-up on Microeconomics can take ECON 313 - Microeconomic Analysis before taking ECON 316. In this case, ECON 313 will count as an elective.  

• ECON 317 - Game Theory and Asymmetric Information (4 units) 

Macroeconomics (4 units) 

• ECON 302 – Modern Macroeconomics: Analysis, Policy and Applications (4 units) 

Research Tool (16 units) 

• ECON 381 - Probability & Statistics for Econometrics (4 units) 
• ECON 382 - Econometrics I (4 units) 
• ECON 383 - Econometrics II (4 units) 
• ECON 328A - Programming for the Social Sciences (2 units) 
• ECON 328B - Programming for the Social Sciences (2 units) 

 

Transdisciplinary Studies (4 units) 

CGU requires that all PhD students take 4 units of TNDY classes.

 

Field/Concentration Courses (20 units) 

We offer the following fields: 

Applied Microeconomics (see below for subfields) 

International Economics & Development Policy 

International Money and Finance (new admissions paused for the 21/22 academic year)

 

Electives (20 units) 

• ECON 313 (Microeconomic Analysis I for MA) can count as an elective 
• Maximum of 2 independent studies allowed  
• Other approved courses may be outside economics (please see your advisor for suggestions and approval) 

 

Field/Concentration Options 

Applied Microeconomics (20 units) 

There is no third qualifying exam for the applied microeconomics field beyond the standard Microeconomics and Econometrics Qualifying Exams.  Please choose one of the following subfield tracks. To maximize exposure to key concepts, students should consult with their advisors before embarking on a particular subfield.  Additional subfields may be proposed that combine courses and electives across several topics, provided a faculty member is available to supervise the subfield with the rigor commensurate with existing subfields.   

All applied microeconomics students must take 4 units of ECON 322 - Microeconomics Workshop, which is a 2-unit course.  This means that students must take the course twice. 

 

Subfield Options 

Crime & Law Economics (16 units) 

Choose 4 classes from the following: 

• ECON 310 - Economics of Crime 
• ECON 377B - Law & Economics 
• TNDY408B - Law & Economics: Theory & Practice 
• ECON 362 - Empirical Public Economics 
• ECON 308 - Discrimination 
• ECON 309 - Urban Economics 

Labor Economics (16 units)  

Choose 4 classes from the following:  

• ECON 371A - Labor Supply 
• ECON 371B - Labor Demand 
• ECON 372 – Labor, Health and Public Economics  
• ECON 308 - Discrimination 
• ECON 309 - Urban Economics 

 

Public Economics (16 units) 

Choose 4 classes from the following: 

• ECON 362 - Empirical Public Economics 
• ECON 343 – Economics of Public Choice 
• ECON 375 - Behavioral Public Finance  
• ECON 309 - Urban Economics 

 

Behavioral, Experimental, and Neuro Economics (16 units)  

Choose 16 units from the following: 

• ECON 312 - Behavioral Neuroscience of Decision-Making  
• ECON 318 - Foundations of Psychology & Economics  
• ECON 320 - Experimental Economics  
• ECON 420a – Behavioral Economics Incubator I (2 units) 
• ECON 420b – Behavioral Economics Incubator II (2 units) 

 

Self-Designed Applied Microeconomics Subfield (16 units)  

Choose 16 units of courses approved by your faculty advisor.  Students design their own field around a unifying theme of interest to them.  

Students must obtain permission from the Division Chair and their academic advisor. 

 

International Economics and Development Policy (20 units) 

ECON 350 – Global Money and Finance 

ECON 351 – Contemporary Issues in International Money and Finance 

SPE 359 – International Development: Finance, Institutions and Policy 

SPE 410 – The Political Economy of International Development 

ECON 384 - Time Series Econometrics 

 

International Money and Finance (20 units) (new admissions paused for the 21/22 academic year)

ECON 336 - Financial Economics

ECON 350 - Global Money and Finance

ECON 351 - Contemporary Issues in International Money and Finance

ECON 384 - Time Series Econometrics

and one field elective drawn from

• ECON 337 - Behavioral & Empirical Finance
• SPE 411 - International Political Economy
• SPE 359 - International Development: Finance, Institutions and Policy