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.

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.

General Requirements

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

Students fulfill a standard set of core requirements and qualify in one major doctoral field. Students must complete the coursework described below, pass the Microeconomics and Econometrics qualifying examinations, pass their oral dissertation proposal, defend their dissertation in an oral examination and submit a completed and dissertation-committee approved dissertation. A typical program for the doctoral student may be envisioned to focus study in the following way:

YEAR FALL SPRING 1 ECON 308 (starts in early August) ECON 317   ECON 316 ECON 382   SPE 489 ECON 302   ECON 381 OR MATH 262           Summer First Year: Microeconomics Qualifying Exam       2 ECON 383 Field Course 3   Field Course 1 Field Course 4   Field Course 2 TNDY         Winter First Year: Econometrics Qualifying Exam       3 Elective 1 Elective 3   Elective 2 Elective 4   Start work on dissertation proposal Work on dissertation proposal         Summer Third Year: Dissertation Proposal 4 Work on Dissertation

Field of Study: Students must successfully complete 20 units in one of the following concentrations: Applied Microeconomics or International Economics and Development Policy (IEDP). Students must inform the department which Field of Study they have chosen. For interfield students, 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 (TNDY), within the first two years of their program or by the completion of 48 units in their program These units will count as 4 units towards the doctoral degree requirement of 72 units. 

Research Tool: Completion of the institutional research tool requirement is met by successful completion of the  Econometrics squence (ECON 381 OR MATH 259, ECON 382, and ECON 383) and SPE 489. Additionally, ECON 316 and ECON 317 will be transcribed as the Microeconomics Research Tool Sequence #2. Other guidelines and forms are available on the registrar’s Research Tools webpage. If you completed a research tool at another institution, you may petition to apply the tool to your CGU degree program. Non-CGU tools must meet the following qualifications: 1. Transfer credit requirements apply – that is, graduate level achievement from an accredited institution and documented on an official transcript, 2. In compliance with transfer credit policies, grades received in non-CGU coursework must be B or better, 3. Tools completed at another institution must have been accomplished within three years of the date of your petition. 4. A faculty advisor must approve the transfer.

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) field 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 the IEDP field exams are scheduled as needed. 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. Failure to pass the required qualifying exams results in the student’s termination from the PhD program.

Practical Experience Milestone: See below.

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

Degree Requirements

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Core Courses (16 units)

Mathematics*

• ECON 308 - Math for Economists 

*Please note that this course starts in early August as a Module 1, Fall course. Any student who wishes to, may attempt to test out of this class. If you test out of this class, then you can add an additional elective. 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 (This series of courses will be transcribed as the Microeconomics Research Tool.)

• ECON 316 - Consumer Theory and General Equilibrium 

*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 

Macroeconomics

• ECON 302 – Modern Macroeconomics: Analysis, Policy and Applications

Research Tools (16 units) 

• SPE 489 - Computational Tools for Social Sciences

• ECON 381 - Probability & Statistics for Econometrics OR MATH 259 – Methods of Applied Probability and Statistics or equivalent (ECON 308 is a pre-requisite for either course; it starts in early August.)

• ECON 382 - Econometrics I  (ECON 308 is a pre-requisite for this course, it starts in early August.)

• ECON 383 - Econometrics II (ECON 308 is a pre-requisite for this course, it starts in early August.)

Transdisciplinary Studies (4 units)

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

Electives (16 units)

Electives should be chosen in consultation with your advisor.

• ECON 308- Math for Economists can count as an elective if taken for credit

• ECON 313 - (Microeconomic Analysis I for MA) can count as an elective 

• ECON 377 - Causal Modeling, Big Data and Machine Learning

• Maximum of 2 independent studies allowed  

• Other approved courses may be outside economics (please see your advisor for suggestions and approval) 

Field of Study (20 units)

We offer the following fields: 

• Applied Microeconomics 

• International Economics & Development Policy 

Applied Microeconomics 

There is no third qualifying exam for the applied microeconomics field beyond the standard Microeconomics and Econometrics Qualifying Exams.  

Students who have chosen Applied Microeconomics as their field should consult with their faculty advisor regarding the best 20 units of Applied Microeconomics coursework to advance their PhD goals, understanding, and skills.

International Economics and Development Policy

• ECON 350 – Global Money and Finance 

• ECON 351 – Contemporary Issues in International Finance and Economic Development

• SPE 359 – Economic Development: Household and Local Development Issues 

• SPE 410 – Political Economy of International Development 

• ECON 384 - Time Series Econometrics 

 

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• A research project with CGU or 5C faculty OR

• One or more articles submitted for publication OR

• Completion of one or more semesters in Doctoral Study that includes relevant work experience and/or progress on the doctoral dissertation.

Students must have their milestones approved by the department prior to the submission of their Final Approval Form. This milestone is to be completed during the time to degree at CGU (7 years for doctoral students). Extensions of Time to Degree citing the need to complete this milestone will not be approved. Students can have a maximum of 4 years of experience for the Practical Experience Milestone.