Specializations
PhD in Business Economics
This specialization emphasizes research related to business and management of organizations, including applications to innovation and entrepreneurship, industrial organization, competitive strategy and international trade. Students develop expertise in advanced economic theory, quantitative analysis, and applied research in preparation for positions in academia and research institutions.
Program Structure and Content
Each student is required to complete the following courses as well as a research project of publishable quality, present at our annual Smith Grad Student Consortium, comprehensive exams, and present at a research seminar in year 3.
Course offerings change from year to year. This sample stream is not reflective of a guaranteed curriculum but is instead an example of what a curriculum could look like in a given year. Please note the minimum requirement to complete a degree is 27 credits. Many of our area groups will exceed the minimum courses to satisfy job market needs in academia.
With supervisor approval, students can select MGMT specialization courses from other area groups. Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion.
Course descriptions are available on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs website. Any non-MGMT courses are linked below.
Sample Business Economics PhD Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 901 Research Foundations | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 989 Major Research Project | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 999 PhD Thesis | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 981: Advanced Topics in Managerial Economics | 3 |
| MGMT 982 Economics of Organizations | 3 |
| MGMT 985 Managerial Economics and Policy Seminar | 3 |
| ECON 852 Quantitative Methods | 3 |
| Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department | |
| ECON 810 Microeconomic Theory (or other elective) | 3 |
| ECON 811 Advanced Microeconomic Theory I (or other elective) | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| MGMT 988 Applied Statistics and Econometrics | 3 |
| MGMT 990 Econometrics Methods | 3 |
| ECON 850 Econometrics I | 3 |
| Total Credits | 27 |
Examples of possible electives from other departments for the Business Economics specialization include: