ECON 410-1,2,3 Microeconomics
ECON 411-1,2,3 Macroeconomics
ECON 480-1,2,3 Econometrics
3
3
3
9
Total Required Units: 18
Examinations: satisfactory grades in each of the three core areas (microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics); oral examination for approval of dissertation prospectus
Research/Projects: two research papers presented in the student seminar (ECON 501) or equivalent. Out of these, one paper is the second-year summer paper detailed below
Finance Comprehensive Exam : Students must pass a Finance Competence Requirement. This can be done by achieving a 3.6 GPA across the six finance doctoral courses (FINC 585-1,2,3 and FINC 586-1,2,3), or by passing a comprehensive Finance exam. The Exam takes place at the beginning of the summer quarter of the second year, typically in June.
Second-year Research Paper and Advisors: Students need to complete a research project to be presented to the department in the first week of September at the end of the summer quarter of the second year. The research project must be supervised by an individual faculty advisor (who can be the same as, or distinct from, the Academic Advisor) selected by the end of the winter quarter. The second-year advisor need not be the same person as the eventual main dissertation advisor.
Ph.D. Dissertation: original, independent research
Final Evaluations: oral dissertation defense
Supervised Teaching Experience: All doctoral students are required to act as a teaching assistant for at least one quarter. As part of these duties, the student must lead a weekly discussion section. Teaching experience is an essential part of graduate training. Foreign students must demonstrate acceptable English proficiency as prescribed by The Graduate School. Evaluations are made and kept as part of the students' record.
There are two points of entry into the joint graduate program in Financial Economics.
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The financial economics phd program leverages the strengths of two renowned programs: the phd program in finance and the university of chicago’s kenneth c. griffin department of economics..
Core economics training is critical for students doing research in financial economics, and advances in financial economics have important implications for other areas of economics.
As a student in our Joint Program in Financial Economics , you’ll work with thought leaders in both economics and finance and follow your research interests wherever they lead. Leveraging courses and resources in the Finance dissertation area at Chicago Booth and the university’s Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics , you’ll build a foundation for research at the intersection of finance and economics.
As a student in the joint program, you’ll work with professors and classmates in both the Department of Economics and the Stevens Doctoral Program in Finance at Chicago Booth. Faculty bring research expertise in a wide range of fields and serve as mentors to PhD students.
Assistant Professor of Finance and Liew Family Junior Faculty Fellow, Fama Faculty Fellow
Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship
Leo Melamed Professor of Finance
Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Neubauer Family Associate Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor The University of Chicago Departments of Economics, Statistics and the Booth School of Business
Joseph L. Gidwitz Professor of Finance
Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Stevens Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Finance
AQR Capital Management Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Fama Family Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Assistant Professor of Finance and Cohen and Keenoy Faculty Scholar
Neubauer Family Professor of Finance and Kathryn and Grant Swick Faculty Scholar
Charles P. McQuaid Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Robert King Steel Faculty Fellow
Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Bruce Lindsay Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Deputy Dean for Faculty and Chicago Board of Trade Professor of Finance
Myron S. Scholes Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Neubauer Faculty Director of the Davis Center
Associate Professor of Finance
Robert C. McCormack Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance
Professor of Economics and Finance
Alumni success.
Our PhD graduates lead successful careers in prestigious academic settings, such as the Stanford Graduate School of Business and London Business School, as well as in leading financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund.
Assistant Professor of Business, Finance Division Columbia Business School, Columbia University Jane's research lies at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance. She is particularly interested in how financial intermediaries affect the real economy and how different types of financial institutions can contribute to financial instability. Her dissertation area is in financial economics.
Doctoral students at Booth have access to the resources of several interdisciplinary research centers that offer funding for student work, host workshops and conferences, and foster a strong research community.
Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Bringing together researchers from the entire Chicago economics community, the Becker Friedman Institute fosters novel insights on the world’s most difficult economic problems.
Center for Research in Security Prices CRSP maintains one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive stock market databases. Since 1963, it has been a valued resource for businesses, government, and scholars.
Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance Tasked with pushing the boundaries of research in finance, the Fama-Miller Center provides institutional structure and support for researchers in the field.
George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State Dedicated to examining issues at the intersection of politics and the economy, the Stigler Center supports research by PhD students and others who are interested in the political, economic, and cultural obstacles to better working markets.
The Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets Enhancing the understanding of business and financial market globalization, the Clark Center for Global Markets positions Chicago Booth as a thought leader in the understanding of ever-changing markets and improves financial and economic decision-making around the world.
Macro Finance Research Program The Macro Finance Research Program (MFR) expands our understanding of how financial markets affect the economy as a whole and, conversely, how the macroeconomy influences financial markets. It does so by bringing together a community of elite and emerging scholars and with common ambitions to tackle these important challenges. One of the important ambitions of this program is to provide intellectual and research support for advanced students in the joint PhD program in financial economics.
Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation Committed to making the world more equitable and sustainable, the Rustandy Center works to solve complex social and environmental problems. The center’s student support includes fellowships, research funding, and networking opportunities.
Chicago Booth Review regularly highlights the research findings of Booth faculty and PhD students in financial economics.
Chicago Booth’s Amir Sufi explains how the financial sector's willingness to extend credit to households helps fuel booms and busts.
According to researchers Zhiguo He (previous Booth prof.), Sheila Jiang and Douglas Xu (both Booth PhD graduates), and Xiao Yin, IT investment figures prominently in banking activities.
Chicago Booth’s Eric Zwick and his coauthors have devised a new way to gauge how much wealth the ultrawealthy have and what it’s composed of. Their results can help update and sharpen the picture of inequality in the US.
Maryam Farboodi, PhD ’14, talks about how the Booth faculty challenged her to focus her research on issues that are applicable to the current financial sector.
Video Transcript
Maryam Farboodi, ’14: 00:02 My work lies in the intersection of finance and economics, trying to apply theoretical models to think about broader questions in big data technology. I was doing extremely theoretical research and I was always interested in doing stuff which are more related to the real world, which led me to join Chicago econ and then the Joint Financial Economics Program at Chicago Booth.
Maryam Farboodi, ’14: 00:29 The faculty really helped me focus my research on issues that are relevant to the current financial climate. A lot of current policy focuses on how financial institutions intermediate for each other and that has been the focus of my research. The faculty at Chicago Booth challenged me in making sure that the insight is applicable to the current financial sector.
Maryam Farboodi, ’14: 00:52 What is really, really special about Booth is the really close interaction between the faculty here and the econ department. Chicago Booth, in particular the joint program, is the best place you can be in. It provides an environment where you can interact with people who are extremely deep in both finance and economics and not lose track of important issues. Chicago Booth and Econ has really being like home to me. That's the feeling that any student can get if they really engage themselves with faculty.
Students in Chicago Booth’s Joint Program in Financial Economics focus their PhD research on a vast array of issues, from state-government borrowing costs to wealth inequality to climate policy. They go on to positions at leading academic institutions and global financial organizations.
Current Students
Monica Barbosa Connor Brennan
Filippo Cavaleri
Manav Chaudhary Rahul Chauhan
Shirui (Suri) Chen
Aditya Dhar Laurenz De Rosa
Joanna Harris Jacob Hartwig
Lewei He Tanvi Jindal
Jingoo Kwon
Federico Mainardi
Benjamin Marrow Eric Milstein Sixun Tang Yifan Wang Judy Yue
See a list of the current students in our Finance PhD Program .
To join the Joint Program in Financial Economics, you will need to be admitted to both the doctoral program in the Department of Economics and the PhD Program in Finance at Chicago Booth. However, you need only apply to one or the other program. Learn more about applying to Chicago Booth or to the Department of Economics .
Learn more about the Joint Program in Financial Economics at Chicago Booth on the website or by referencing the joint program-specific guidebook below. See Joint Program-Specific Guidebook
The Stevens Program at Booth is a full-time program. Students generally complete the majority of coursework and examination requirements within the first two years of studies and begin work on their dissertation during the third year. For details, see General Examination Requirements by Area in the Stevens Program Guidebook below.
Download the 2023-2024 Guidebook!
PhD Program
Wharton’s PhD program in Finance provides students with a solid foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance, drawing heavily on the discipline of economics.
The department prepares students for careers in research and teaching at the world’s leading academic institutions, focusing on Asset Pricing and Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, International Finance, Financial Institutions and Macroeconomics.
Wharton’s Finance faculty, widely recognized as the finest in the world, has been at the forefront of several areas of research. For example, members of the faculty have led modern innovations in theories of portfolio choice and savings behavior, which have significantly impacted the asset pricing techniques used by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Another example is the contribution by faculty members to the analysis of financial institutions and markets, which is fundamental to our understanding of the trade-offs between economic systems and their implications for financial fragility and crises.
Faculty research, both empirical and theoretical, includes such areas as:
Candidates with undergraduate training in economics, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and other quantitative disciplines have an ideal background for doctoral studies in this field.
Effective 2023, The Wharton Finance PhD Program is now STEM certified.
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For example, a university generally admits at least 20-25 students for PhD in Econ while it admits 5-6 students for PhD in Finance. Secondly, there are more people from different majors applying for a Phd in Finance than applying for a PhD in Econ.
Finance and economics can differ in career, skills, exit opportunities, etc. A typical economics graduate needs to complete a master's and a Ph.D. to get an excellent career opportunity. However, finance graduates can complement their graduation by taking CFA, FRM, PRM to boost their chances of climbing up the finance career.
In terms of research methods an economics Ph.D. probably has better rote technical skills, while finance Ph.D. will probably have better institutional understanding. From a job market stand point there is a difference. Economics Ph.D.s can and do work in Finance departments.
It's easy to confuse economics with finance -- after all, they both deal with money. But they are two different things and, consequently, a doctorate in economics is different than a...
The basic requirements for getting into a finance or Econ phd are really, really similar. Both are heavily mathematics driven fields - finance probably more so, especially if you elect to work in derivatives or asset pricing.
What do you think are the key differences and similarities between admissions in a top tier PhD Finance program vs. a top tier PhD Economics program? The % admittance to finance vs top econ schools is similar but there's a huge difference in level.
At Stanford GSB, finance faculty and doctoral students study a wide spectrum of financial topics, including the pricing and valuation of assets, the behavior of financial markets, and the structure and financial decision-making of firms and financial intermediaries.
The Department of Economics and the Finance Department in the Kellogg School of Management have a joint Ph.D. degree in Financial Economics. The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, general degree requirements and the policies on Satisfactory Progress, Probation and Exclusion of The Graduate School, and ...
The Financial Economics PhD Program leverages the strengths of two renowned programs: the PhD Program in Finance and the University of Chicago’s Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics. Core economics training is critical for students doing research in financial economics, and advances in financial economics have important implications for ...
Wharton’s PhD program in Finance provides students with a solid foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance, drawing heavily on the discipline of economics.