The Economics doctoral program at Arizona prepares students for positions in universities, in the private sector and in government and nonprofit organizations.

Students work closely with faculty, and most students receive financial support for their entire residency in the department. The department's faculty has long been among the world's best in experimental economics and in economic history. The department also maintains a strong focus on microeconomics, particularly industrial organization, labor economics, and environmental/energy economics. Some of our students choose a concentration in financial economics, and we offer a PhD in agricultural and resource economics in conjunction with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Program Overview

The first two years are geared towards transitioning students into research by formally teaching the computing skills necessary for research and providing students early experience with the research process.

The first year of a student’s program emphasizes comprehensive coursework in the modern concepts and techniques of microeconomic theory and econometrics. This first year also includes novel courses that teach students the coding skills and computational methods necessary for modern research. First-year students also gain exposure to behavioral and experimental economics, meet each of the faculty through a research seminar, and write a first research paper. The preliminary exam for the PhD occurs at the end of the first year.

During the second and third years students work closely with the faculty in seminar courses and workshops. It's here that students make the transition to doing their own research. Students write research papers at the end of their second and third years that the students present to the department. Students receive faculty feedback through a structured evaluation process. These papers often end up as dissertation chapters. Close faculty-student interaction often leads students into collaborative research with one or more faculty members.

Subsequent time in the program is devoted to completing the dissertation, with special emphasis on developing, crafting, and polishing a job market paper.

The department also emphasizes the development of high-quality teaching. A seminar on teaching develops teaching methods and skills. Students serve as teaching assistants in undergraduate courses, after which a student may audition for the opportunity to teach his or her own course. Advice and feedback are provided by faculty members who are nationally recognized for teaching undergraduate economics.

Progression through the program typically takes five years. Students complete core coursework and then specialize in two fields before writing the dissertation. See how students may develop different plans of study to reflect their different areas of research interest.

The department takes care to place students in jobs that match their interests and abilities. Students regularly obtain tenure-track faculty positions at research universities, tenure-track faculty positions at liberal arts colleges, research roles in government agencies and nonprofits, and research roles in the private sector.

Prerequisites

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a recognized institution. Students are expected to have completed and performed well in courses that correspond to the UA courses listed below.

Expected

• ECON 361 Intermediate Microeconomics
• MATH 122A and MATH 122B Calculus I with Applications
• MATH 129 Calculus II
• MATH 215 Linear Algebra
• MATH 223 Vector Calculus

Recommended

• ECON 418 Econometrics
• MATH 323 Formal Mathematical Reasoning and Writing
• MATH 461 Elements of Statistics

Faculty-Student Interaction

The Department encourages extensive faculty-student interaction by maintaining a relatively small doctoral program, by selecting students whose interests are consistent with our faculty members' research, and by requiring students to engage with faculty in the course of writing second- and third-year research papers.

This faculty-student interaction generally leads to productive research collaborations: nearly every student who has received a PhD in the Department has written articles jointly with one or more of the department's faculty members.

Student Awards