Program Structure and Courses

Program Overview

The Ph.D. Program in Economics at the Graduate School of Economics, Finance, and Management (GSEFM) is designed to ensure that students acquire a thorough knowledge of economic theory, econometric and computational methods as well as the structure of modern economies, before beginning their own research under faculty supervision.

Minimum prerequisite for consideration by the program's admissions committee is a Bachelor's degree (to be completed at the time of beginning of Ph.D. Program studies), in a degree program with thorough coverage of quantitative methods. An undergraduate specialization in economics is not required; the program rather seeks applications from candidates with outstanding analytical and quantitative skills who can demonstrate a strong interest in substantive economic issues. The program invites applications from both domestic and international students. The language of the entire program is English.

In the first year of the program, students attend core courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and mathematical methods. At the end of the first year of studies, students must pass qualifying examinations in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. Students already possessing a Master's degree in quantitative economics may be allowed to waive some of the first-year courses, but before being allowed into any second-year courses, all students will need to have passed the qualifying examinations. In the second year of the program students complete field courses in two fields of their choosing and begin to work on their own research. All students are required to have a faculty advisor by the end of their second year in the program. The role of the faculty advisor is to help the student to make the transition from coursework to research and to identify suitable dissertation topics. By the end of their third year in the program students will need to have completed their first research paper. The dissertation is completed in the fourth year of the program. The dissertation must be a major piece of research, and its chapters must have the potential for publication in an international scientific journal.

Program Structure

First Year

Pre-Semester: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Mathematics and Statistics
Fall Semester: Advanced Microeconomic Theory 1, Advanced Econometrics 1, Advanced Macroeconomic Theory 1, Mathematical Methods
Spring Semester: Advanced Microeconomic Theory 2, Advanced Macroeconomic Theory 2, Advanced Econometrics 2, Historical and Normative Foundations of Economics
Qualifying Examinations

Second Year

Fall Semester: Field Courses, Workshop Attendance
Spring Semester: Field Courses, Seminar, Workshop Attendance

Fields Offered:

Development and International Economics (Development Microeconomics, Economic Growth, International Trade, International Money and Finance)
Econometrics (Microeconometric Methods; Time-Series Modelling; Dynamic Panel Models)
Finance (Dynamic Capital Market Theory; Option Pricing; Investment and Pension Finance; Corporate Finance)
Law and Economics (Stability and Regulation; Design of Institutions)
Macroeconomics (Monetary and Fiscal Policy; Consumption and Saving; International Macroeconomics; Empirical Macroeconomic Modelling; Numerical Methods in Macroeconomics)
Marketing (Bayesian Modelling for Marketing, Equity Management, Pricing, Structural Models and Competition)
Microeconomics (Industrial Organization; Advanced Game Theory; Labor Economics; Economics of Taxation)

Third Year

Seminar
Workshop Attendance
Independent Studies Course Requirement
Third-Year Research Paper Requirement

Fourth Year

Workshop Attendance
Job Market Course Requirement
Thesis Defense

Stay Abroad

During either the third or fourth year in the program, students may spend one or two semesters abroad for a research stay at an internationally top ranked Ph.D. program. In addition, there is a cooperation with the Ph.D. Program at the University of St. Gallen which inter alia facilitates transfer of credit for courses taken in St. Gallen.

Course and Workshop Details

Note: The details of the course offerings will differ somewhat from year to year, depending on the faculty member teaching the course in question.

First Year

Mathematics and Statistics Pre-Semester Course: Real analysis; advanced calculus; linear algebra; static optimization; probability theory and probability distributions; point estimation; hypothesis testing; linear regression model.
Microeconomics Pre-Semester Course: Theory of the household; theory of the firm; game theory; welfare economics; externalities.
Macroeconomics Pre-Semester Course: Growth theory; business cycles (models with flexible prices, sticky prices, and limited price adjustment); monetary and fiscal policy.
Advanced Microeconomic Theory 1: Theory of the household; theory of the firm; static games; dynamic games
Advanced Microeconomic Theory 2: Contract theory; general equilibrium theory; welfare economics; externalities
Advanced Macroeconomic Theory 1: Dynamic programming; numerical methods; growth theory; business cycles
Advanced Macroeconomic Theory 2: Consumption; investment; monetary policy; fiscal policy; exchange rate and capital account dynamics
Advanced Econometrics 1: Fundamentals of linear regression and asymptotic analysis; Linear and nonlinear cross-section regression models; static panel data models
Advanced Econometrics 2: Single and multiple equation time-series models; integration and cointegration; conditional heteroskedasticity
Mathematical Methods: Probability theory; real analysis; difference and differential equations; dynamic optimization and optimal control
Historical and Normative Foundations of Economics: History of economic thought; European economic history; normative foundations

Second Year: Field Macroeconomics

Monetary and Fiscal Policy: Transmission channels of monetary policy; monetary policy operating procedures; debts and deficits; generational accounting; discretionary policy and time inconsistency; robust policy rules.
Consumption and Saving: Life-cycle consumption; consumer durables; risk sharing; liquidity constraints; portfolio choice; stockholding
International Macroeconomics: International financial markets; global linkages; sticky-price open economy models; exchange rate systems; currency crises
Empirical Macroeconomic Modelling: Reduced form and intertemporal optimization based approaches to macroeconometrics; panel based cross-country studies in macroeconomics
Numerical Methods in Macroeconomics: Elements of numerical mathematics; perturbation methods; projection methods; estimation methods: simulated method of moments, simulated likelihood approaches

Second Year: Field Microeconomics

Industrial Organization: Monopolistic and oligopolistic pricing; dynamic price competition and tacit collusion; supergames and applications; price rigidities; entry and exit decisions; network economics; information and strategy
Labor Economics: Labor supply and human capital accumulation in life cycle perspective; dynamic labor demand; search and matching theory; unions and wage bargaining; evaluation of active labor market policy
Economics of Taxation: Tax principles; tax incidence; the excess burden of taxation; optimal taxation; green taxation; debt versus taxes
Development Economics: Income distribution, factor substitution and technical progress; economic convergence; development traps

Second Year: Field Econometrics

Microeconometric Methods: Linear and nonlinear panel methods (small T and large N); duration analysis; quantile regression; estimation of treatment effects
Time-Series Modelling: VAR and VECM modelling; fractional integration; stochastic volatility; switching regime models; Bayesian methods in time-series analysis
Dynamic Panel Models: Fixed versus random effects and coefficients models; short- vs. long-run dynamics in panel data models; unit roots and cointegration in panels; spatial dependence

Second Year: Field Finance

Dynamic Capital Market Theory: Stochastic discount factor/pricing kernel methodology; mean-variance frontiers; factor pricing models; derivative pricing; portfolio selection
Option Pricing: Extensions of the Black-Scholes model (jumps; stochastic volatility; stochastic interest rates); empirical analysis of option markets
Corporate Finance: Capital budgeting; capital structure; dividend policy; mergers, restructuring and corporate control
Investment and Pension Finance: Funded pensions; managing pension accumulation and decumulation; estimating risk and portfolio selection; relationship between risk and return; international investments

Second Year: Field Marketing

Marketing Performance Measurement: Effectiveness of marketing actions: introduction to marketing models, elements of model building, specification, estimation, validation; choice models: multinomial Logit, differential substitution, preference heterogeneity, microeconomic foundations, choice as a process
Advanced Research Methodology and Measurement: Cause and effect relationships in marketing, measurement, marketing decisions; data collection: questionnaire design, design of experiments (factorial and randomized); multivariate statistics: general linear model; positioning: multidimensional scaling, factor analysis, discriminant analysis; segmentation: cluster analysis, mixture models; advanced measurement: SEM, PLS
Bayesian Modeling for Marketing: Elements of Bayesian inference; Gibbs sampling, Metropolis-Hastings; R as a programming environment; data generating mechanisms and management decision making; hierarchical modelling; endogenous covariates
Structural Models and Competition: Descriptive versus structural models; econometrics of structural models; (joint) estimation of demand and cost functions; identification of contribution margins and market power; applications in Marketing

Sample Syllabi

The following are sample syllabi for many of the courses in the first year of the program. The sample syllabi may inter alia be useful (i) for potential applicants to the program to learn about the level of mathematical/statistical methods taught and drawn upon in the program, and (ii) for newly admitted students to prepare for their start of classes.

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