UCSB Economics - Graduate Ph.D.

Admission

Admissions decisions are made by the departmental Graduate Admissions Committee, which is chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies. Admission to the program is based on intellectual potential and scholarly promise, academic achievement, and programmatic fit. A bachelor's degree is required, though not necessarily with a major in economics. The department does require that specific courses, particularly economic theory and econometrics, be passed with distinction. Prospective students are advised to take as much statistics and mathematics as possible; at least one mathematical statistics course, a year of calculus, and a course in matrix algebra are indispensable. An additional year of calculus and some course work in stochastic processes and linear algebra is highly recommended. The minimum undergraduate GPA requirement for admission is 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the junior and senior years. Meeting the minimum requirement does not guarantee admission; the actual standard for admission is set by the current pool of applicants, and is generally much higher. The average undergraduate GPA for all 40 applicants who were admitted for Fall 2007 was 3.76 on a 4.0 scale.

All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The subject test in economics is not required. Average GRE scores for students admitted to the Ph.D. program in Fall 2007 were:

GRE Verbal......................587 / 77%
GRE Quantitative .............764 / 85%
GRE Analytical Writing.....5.0 / 80%

Foreign Student Applicants

Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System exam. Requests for exceptions to this requirement will be considered for those students who have completed an undergraduate or graduate education at an institution whose primary language of instruction is English. However, the department highly recommends the submission of a TOEFL score for all international students who wish to be considered for financial assistance. The minimum acceptable TOEFL score is 600 (paper-based test), 250 (computer-based test) or 100 (internet-based test), but successful applicants typically score above 620 (paper-based test), 260 (computer-based test) or 105 (internet-based test). For those applicants choosing to take the IELTS, the minimum acceptable Overall Band score is 7 or higher. Foreign students should take the TOEFL/IELTS and the Graduate Record Examination as early as possible to facilitate a timely admission decision.

Students for whom English is not the native language take the English Language Placement Examination upon arrival at UCSB to determine speaking and writing ability. Depending upon test performance, students may be required to take classes in English as a Second Language to achieve full proficiency in English. The proficiency requirements in spoken and written English must be met before a degree can be awarded.

Applicants must apply for admission to our graduate programs electronically at www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/eapp/.

International students are initially required to submit an International Pre-Application. The Pre-Application must be submitted electronically and can be accessed by selecting the Pre-Application (International Students) link…

After submitting the online application, applicants must send the following materials directly to the UCSB Graduate Division:

1. Non-refundable application fee of $60 (if not paid online with a credit card) by check, money order, bank draft, or international money order payable through a U.S. bank and made payable to “UC Regents”.*

*If paying by check or money order, please ensure that the applicant name appears on the check or money order, and that it is accompanied by the Check/Money Order Submission form found on the last page of the application or within the Application Status. An application fee paid to another University of California campus is not valid for an application to UCSB

2. Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores forwarded directly from the testing institution. The ETS institution code for UCSB is 4835.

3. Official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam scores (international students only) forwarded directly from the testing institution. The ETS institution code for TOEFL scores for UCSB is 4835.

Mailing Address of the Graduate Division:
UC Santa Barbara Graduate Division
Attn: Graduate Admissions
3117 Cheadle Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2070

The following materials must be submitted directly to the UCSB Department of Economics:

3. Official Transcripts (2 copies) from all post-secondary institutions attended.

The deadline for receipt of all application materials for admission with financial support consideration is December 15th, 2007. The final deadline for applications to the Fall quarter is February 1st, 2008. First-year Ph.D. courses are sequential; students must begin the program in the fall quarter.

Mailing Address of the Department of Economics:
University of California Santa Barbara
Department of Economics
Attn: Graduate Advisor
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9210

The Ph.D. program usually requires five years to complete. The program focuses on students beginning active research early in their career.

The program stresses a strong foundation in theory and econometrics. There are nine core courses in the Ph.D. curriculum, focused on three major areas: Microeconomic Theory (Economics 210A-B-C-D), Macroeconomic Theory (Economics 204A-B), and Econometrics (Economics 241A-B-C). The core courses are completed during the first year of the program as follows:

Fall Quarter
Economics 210A: “Theory of Consumption and Production”
Economics 210B: “Introduction to Game Theory”
Economics 241A: “Econometrics”

Winter Quarter
Economics 204A: “Macroeconomic Theory”
Economics 210C: “Markets and Incentives”
Economics 241B: “Econometrics”

Spring Quarter
Economics 204B: “Macroeconomic Theory”
Economics 210D: “General Equilibrium and Welfare”
Economics 241C: “Econometrics”

In addition, all new teaching assistants must enroll in Economics 297: “Seminar on the Teaching of Economics.”

All courses used to satisfy requirements of the Ph.D. program are taken for a letter grade. A grade point average of 3.0 (letter grade B) is required to receive an M.A. or Ph.D. degree.

First Year
Ph.D. students must complete the Microeconomics and Econometrics core courses with a grade of B or better in each course. The Macroeconomics courses must be completed with a B+ grade or better in each course. Students must receive a Ph.D. pass on the preliminary examinations at the end of the first year in Econometrics and Microeconomics. Grading categories for the preliminary examinations are “Fail”, “M.A. Pass”, “Ph.D. Pass” and “Ph.D. Pass with Distinction.” To proceed in the Ph.D. program, students must receive a Ph.D. Pass or better.

Students have two opportunities to pass each examination, the first in June, after completion of Spring quarter, and the second in September, before the start of Fall quarter. Students are eligible to Advance to Candidacy once they receive a Ph.D. pass on both preliminary examinations.

Students who receive an M.A. pass (or higher) on the preliminary examinations (and who satisfy the above grade requirements) are eligible to receive the M.A. degree in Economics.

Students who receive only an M.A. pass on the preliminary examinations (and who satisfy the above grade requirements) are eligible to receive the M.A. degree in Economics, but are not eligible to continue in the Ph.D. program.

Second Year
Students start to take eight elective courses. The courses that satisfy the two fields requirement must be completed with an average grade of at least an A-. The electives must include specializations in two fields. The fields are: Industrial Organization, Macroeconomic Theory and Policy, Public Finance, Finance, Mathematical Economics, Econometrics, Labor Economics, Environmental Economics and Natural Resources, and International Economics. In the second year, students begin their thesis by writing a research proposal. When completed, the research proposal is defended in an oral examination administered by their doctoral committee, upon which the student advances to candidacy. The goal is to reach this important milestone by the end of the third year.

Third Year
Students are recommended to advance to candidacy by the end of the spring quarter. To advance, students select a thesis committee and discuss a research proposal. Students must enroll in the graduate research seminar for spring quarter. Students are required to pass the third year review by the end of spring quarter. To pass the third year review, the thesis supervisor endorses the student’s first research paper, which is then posted on the graduate research website. The graduate research website contains all graduate student research papers and is online for public viewing.

Fourth Year
Students are required to pass the fourth year review by the end of spring quarter of the fourth year. To pass the fourth year review: students receive their supervisor’s endorsement to post their second research paper and they receive the endorsement of their committee that they are ready to enter the job market in the fall of their fifth year.

Public defense of the completed thesis is often waived but may be required by the thesis committee.

Economics 204A-B: “Macroeconomic Theory”
A. Introduction to modern macroeconomics. Study of economic growth and dynamic optimization. Representative agent, overlapping generations and monetary models.

B. Modern business cycle analysis, fiscal and monetary policy in a dynamic framework.

Economics 210A: “Theory of Consumption and Production”
Preferences, revealed preference utility, constrained optimization, demand, expenditure, indirect utility, cost, production, and profit.

Economics 210B: “Introduction to Game Theory”
Risk, expected utility; cooperative games; non-cooperative games; equilibrium; duopoly; oligopoly; bargaining; auctions.

Economics 210C: “Markets and Incentives”
Competitive equilibrium; Edgeworth boxes; monopoly; oligopoly; externalities; public goods; adverse selection; principal-agent problems, and moral hazard.

Economics 210D: “General Equilibrium and Welfare”
Existence of general price-taking equilibrium; welfare theorems; examples; the core; equilibrium in risk markets; and intertemporal equilibrium.

Economics 214A-B: “Economic Development”
A study of problems faced by the less developed countries. Elements of new growth theory. Endogenous growth and learning by doing. Topics considered include population growth, labor supply, capital accumulation, openness in trade, and technological change.

Economics 216A-B: “Organization of Industry”
Theoretical and empirical analyses of imperfect competition. Individual or firm optimization and market equilibrium are considered. Topics include oligopoly, monopolistic competition, information, determinants of market structure, complex pricing, vertical relations. Antitrust, regulatory and government ownership policies will be examined.

Economics 229: “Macroeconomic Theory and Policy”
The course covers dynamic fiscal policy, including optimal taxation and government debt management, time consistency problems of fiscal and monetary policy, government budget deficits and their effects on the economy, and other advanced topics in macroeconomics.

Economics 230A-B: “Public Finance”
A. Public goods, taxation and expenditure theory.

B. Topics vary: public debt management and fiscal policy, advanced topics in public expenditure and taxation theory; analysis of collective choice, political processes, and group decision making

Economics 235A-B-C: “Finance”
A. Individuals' optimal consumption/portfolio choice under uncertainty and implied asset valuation. Rigorous treatment of both the traditional linear asset pricing relations; mean-variance CAPM and APT, and the equilibrium valuation; consumption-based intertemporal asset-pricing models.

B. Covers the integration of dynamic capital theory and the theory of finance, multi-period general equilibrium pricing models, and tests of those models.

Economics 241A-B-C: “Econometrics”
A. Elements of probability and statistics for econometrics.

B. The intuition and theory underpinning estimation of single and multiple equation regression models. Conducting original empirical research.

C. Extension of the general linear model, dynamic model structure and limited dependent variable estimation.

Economics 242: “Advanced Game Theory”
Cournot-Nash equilibrium, bargaining theory, value and equilibrium and evolutionary stable strategy. Non-equilibrium solution concepts (dominance and rationalizability). Applications to oligopoly, signaling, principal-agent problem, and organization of firms.

Economics 243: “Computational Laboratory in Economics”
Introduction to computational economics. Laboratory in social science models. Agent-based modeling, complexity in organizations and markets, evolution and genetic algorithms, the emergence of order, and the policy implications of computational economics. Research project required.

Economics 244: “Mathematical Economics”
Topics include bargaining, search, matching, mechanism design, voting, auctions, adaptive control, learning dynamics, and recent developments in game theory and mathematical economics.

Economics 245A-B-C: “Econometric Theory”
A. The logic and structure of empirical work. In order: how to quantify theory; sources of data; methods of estimating; informative reporting of results.

B. Methods of time series analysis including: stationary VARMA models; spectral analysis; EM algorithm; unit-root processes and cointegration; fully-modified estimators; error-correction models; and conditional heteroskeoasticity models.

C. Limited-dependent variables and panel data methods for qualitative variables and truncated and censored samples; analysis of covariance and variance components techniques for continuous panel data; analysis of discrete-state, discrete-time and discrete-state, continuous-time models.

Economics 249: “Dynamic Optimization”
An introduction to the dynamic optimization techniques of the calculus of variations and optimal control theory. Focus on continuous time planning problems in a deterministic setting. Applications include natural resource extraction, energy production, human capital accumulation, and insurance.

Economics 250A: “Labor Economics”
Theory and application of labor supply and demand models. applications include work incentives of social programs, employment effects of minimum wages, and effects of immigration.

Economics 250B: “Wage Structure”
Analysis of wage differentials by education, experience, union status, working conditions and other factors.

Economics 250C: “Current Research Topics in Labor Economics”
Areas covered vary from year to year.

Economic 260A: “Natural Resources”
Capital theory and welfare economics applied to the primarily dynamic questions concerning the use of nonrenewable resources such as minerals, the use of renewable resources such as fisheries and forests, and the preservation of species and natural environments.

Economics 260B: “Environmental Economics”
The primarily static theory of externalities and their correction. Covers basic theory of public bads and externalities, regulation theory related to environmental problems and applications, the valuation of environmental goods, transboundary pollution, and international trade and the environment.

Economics 280A: “International Trade”
Topics include the sources of gains from trade and comparative advantage, trade under increasing returns to scale and imperfect competition, strategic trade policy, political economy of trade policy, and trade and environment issues.

Economics 280B: “International Finance”
Topics include current account dynamics, international risk sharing, the transmission of business cycles, the determination of exchange rates, and sovereign debt.

A brief summary of the types of financial support available to economics doctoral students follows.

Merit-based support is awarded on the basis of academic performance. Students who do not receive merit-based financial assistance during their first year are eligible for this type of aid in subsequent years if they do well in their courses and make good progress toward the degree.

Most merit-based financial assistance is in the form of teaching assistantships, which recently have been sufficient to support approximately forty-five students. A somewhat greater number receive at least partial support. Teaching assistantships in the Department of Economics are awarded at various fractions of time. The maximum award, fifty percent, entails teaching two discussion sections per quarter. Teaching assistantships for continuing students are dependent upon satisfactory performance as a student and as a teacher.

Students with multi-year offers of teaching assistantship retain their offer if they make normal progress (as outlined above) and perform well as teachers. Students without multi-year offers may receive annual offers. First priority for these annual offers is for students on the job market in their fifth year. Priority is next given to remaining students making normal progress, in declining order of seniority (second year students have highest priority, fourth year students have lowest priority).

Students whose native language is not English and who are awarded teaching assistantships must demonstrate proficiency in English. A committee including representatives from the Graduate Division and the English as a Second Language program evaluates the potential teaching assistant based upon a five to seven minute presentation on an undergraduate topic assigned in advance by the department. The evaluators assess the student's ability to explain academic concepts and respond to questions. Prospective teaching assistants who do not pass the evaluation for spoken English are required to enroll in an appropriate course and they are re-evaluated every quarter until they meet proficiency requirements.

Some research assistantships are available from individual faculty members, depending on research funding. Arrangements to work as a research assistant are made directly with individual faculty members.

Fellowships: Merit-based fellowships are awarded to incoming and continuing Ph.D. students. Most fellowships are awarded for periods of several years and are intended to support the student until completion of the degree.

The Chancellor's and Regents Special Fellowships, which are awarded by the university in competition across departments, supply good support for four to six years and relieve the student of teaching duties during at least two years. Within the department, the most generous and prestigious awards for entering students are the Andron Fellowships.

Top students can hold a Chancellor's or Regents Special Fellowship in addition to an Andron Fellowship. Regents Fellowships are also awarded by the department.

The numbers of fellowships in each category varies from year to year for numerous reasons. In addition, the department awards the Raymond K. Myerson Family Trust Graduate Fellowship each spring to an incoming or continuing student with an outstanding academic record.

The application deadline for merit-based financial support is December 15th. It is advisable for applicants to submit all application materials prior to the December deadline.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required of all U.S. citizens and permanent residents. General information about need-based aid follows. Application forms and more detailed information regarding need-based financial support may be obtained from:

United States citizens and eligible non-citizens may apply for need-based financial aid in the form of loans and work-study awards through the UCSB Financial Aid Office. Eligible non-citizens are those who are: (1) a U.S. Permanent Resident with an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-551); (2) a conditional permanent resident (I-551C); or (3) an other eligible non-citizen with an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service showing one of the following designations: “Refugee”, “Asylum Granted,” “Indefinite Parole,” “Humanitarian Parole,” or “Cuban-Haitian Entrant”. University of California financial aid programs are based entirely on demonstrated financial need and require a separate application called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The annual priority filing date is March 2 prior to the academic year for which you are applying, and the FAFSA should be postmarked no later than that date. The Graduate and Professional School Financial Aid Service Application (GAPSFAS) is not accepted at UCSB.

Students' eligibility for aid is determined by comparing the "Estimated Student Budget" with the individual student's actual resources. The Financial Aid Office has calculated specific estimated student budgets for both single and married students, residents and nonresidents. Assistance from the Financial Aid Office is usually offered as a combination package of the following types of aid:

Work-Study: Student salaries are paid partly by the federal government and partly by the hiring department. Any on-campus employer or eligible nonprofit off-campus employer may employ students with Work-Study funding. Graduate students may apply their Work-Study allocation to their TAship, if applicable.

Direct Loans: A maximum of $8,500 per year in subsidized Direct Loans is available for eligible Graduate students. Students who do not demonstrate need qualify for the unsubsidized Direct Loan. The maximum amount that graduate students can borrow through both the subsidized and unsubsidized programs is $18,500. The actual amount they can borrow will be determined by their financial need, based on their need-analysis.