Economics, Ph.D

Admission

The minimum standard for admission to the Ph.D. program is a Master’s degree from a recognized university, with a B+ average. Admission is competitive: not all applicants who meet the minimum standard will be offered admission.

Requirements

There are three phases of doctoral studies:

Phase 1

The first is passing the comprehensive exams in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Students must complete the following courses:

Theory Sequence

Econometrics Sequence

Mathematics Review

ECON 765 / Mathematical Methods

Additional Information

ECON 761 may be waived if equivalent work has already been completed by the student at another university. A student’s claim to have completed equivalent work will be tested by examination at the beginning of the academic year.

Phase 2

The second phase is passing the comprehensive exams in two areas of specialization and writing a research paper. Certain courses, selected at the discretion of the field examination committee, must be completed before attempting these exams. The usual areas of specialization, and typical course requirement for each of them, are given below however additional areas of specialization in which the department has research strength may be allowed with the permission of the graduate chair if they are based on courses offered by the department.

Health Economics

International Economics

Labour Economics

Growth and Monetary Economics

Population Economics

Public Economics

Econometrics

Additional Information

These comprehensive exams must be completed within twenty-four months of entering the doctoral program. The research paper requirement must be met within twenty-seven months of entering the doctoral program. The research paper will be presented in the Fall term during the PhD workshop discussed below. The research paper must be accepted by the supervisory committee.

Phase 3

The third phase is the thesis. A student may choose to take additional courses at this stage if the courses are germane to the student’s proposed research. Up to four half courses may be taken outside of the department with the approval of the Graduate Chair. In addition to writing a thesis and taking courses, students must achieve the Active Researcher Milestone which involves participating in the department’s research activities (for example, by attending seminars, PhD workshops and meeting with visiting speakers) and regularly presenting their research. The Active Researcher Milestone must be achieved annually until graduation.

A student at this stage is required to complete the following seminar courses. Students who have passed all their comprehensive examinations should register for Econ 798 in the Fall term that immediately follows and present the research paper. Doctoral students typically take a total of 12-14 graduate courses at this university.

Work Integrated Learning Stream

The Work integrated learning (WIL) stream in either the M.A. in Economics, the M.A. in Economic Policy or the PhD in Economics Degree

Students in any graduate program of the Economics Department who have obtained a GPA of B or higher at the time of application and a grade of B+ or higher in ECON 761 OR ECON 6G03 may apply to be moved from the regular stream of their program to the work integrated learning (WIL) stream associated with their degree program. The number of students who will be accepted into the WIL stream of the relevant program will be small and may change over time. Admission to the stream does not guarantee a placement. Working with information available to the department and through their own efforts and contacts, a WIL stream student will compete for and apply for positions on their own. These positions can be held anywhere in the world. To complete the WIL stream, students must work in either one or two placements and successfully complete both ECON 796 and ECON 797. A student who fails to complete both courses will be switched back to the regular stream of the program that they are enrolled in. Both of these courses are for credit and are Pass/Fail. Registration in these courses will be restricted to students who have a placement that has been approved by the Econ 796 or Econ 797 course instructor as appropriate. In addition, PhD students must get permission from their supervisor. PhD students will normally enter the WIL stream having passed all comprehensive examinations as well as the research paper. A placement must include a significant research opportunity. At the completion of four months of a placement, the student must write an academic report discussing the work undertaken in light of their academic studies and must request a letter of evaluation from the mentor(s). These documents must be judged satisfactory by the course instructor to successfully complete either ECON 796 or ECON 797 as appropriate. Successful completion of these courses will be indicated on the student’s transcript. In the event that the student does not complete the full term of a placement, the student will drop the course and join the regular stream of their program.

Interested Masters students should normally register for the WIL stream associated with their Masters program (MA or MAEP) at the beginning of term 2 of the first year of their program. Because of the nature of hiring, it is sometimes not known which students will be doing each placement until the month before that placement commences. Students who do not find a position can switch back into the regular stream of their program. Students taking Econ 796 or Econ 797 by working at a placement while still enrolled in other courses are expected to fulfill requirements of these othercourses outside their placement work hours. While registered in either ECON 796 or ECON 797, a student will be considered a full-time student and will pay term tuition.