Programme Details

PhD Academic Calendar

MPhil in Economics Programme Description

Students must complete 8 courses and a thesis. Courses must include Microeconomics I, Microeconomics II, Macroeconomics I, Macroeconomics II, Econometrics I, Econometrics II. Students have flexibility in organising their coursework. They can, for instance, take Microeconomics I, Macroeconomics I, and Econometrics I in the first year and the other 3 compulsory courses in the second year. They can also choose to take all compulsory courses in the first year. For the remaining two courses that students must complete, they have the choice among Topics courses offered in our PhD programme, and they can choose to complete them in the first year, the second year, or over the two years.

PhD in Economics Programme Structure and Curriculum

The programme is designed to give students a structured path from classroom learning to front-line research. They develop the skills necessary to put together rigorous, well-founded arguments and theories of the behaviour of economies, markets, industries, and of the people and institutions that make up these entities. They develop the empirical skills needed to tease out evidence from data, to falsify or lend support to their novel theories, to the highest standards demanded by economic science.

Many of our students graduate with academic publications in top research journals, and go on to successful careers in industry and academia.

Math Camp

Math Camp Syllabus

Notes for AY2023/24: Part 1A, Part 1B, Part 2A, Part 2B

These notes will be updated over the summer. 

First Year

Our students spend their first year building their foundation in Microeconomics I, Microeconomics II, Macroeconomics I, Macroeconomics II, Econometrics I, Econometrics II with coverage of both theoretical foundations of economics, and the advanced mathematical skills, as well as empirical and computational skills, that they will need in their research.

At the end of the first year, all students are required to sit for, and pass, the PhD Qualifying Examination in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Econometrics.

Second Year

The second year of our programme provides our students with the opportunity to survey the many branches of economics and econometrics, and to delve deeper into their chosen areas of research. The many advanced research topics or ARTs that we offer includes

Advanced Time Series Econometrics
Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics
Advanced Topics in Mathematical Economics
Computational Macroeconomics
Development Economics
Financial Econometrics
High Frequency Econometrics
Industrial Organization
Mechanism Design I
Mechanism Design II
Microeconometrics
Monetary Economics
Nonparametric Econometrics
Panel Data Econometrics I
Panel Data Econometrics II
Social Interactions
Spatial Econometrics
Topics in Development Economics
Topics in Financial Econometrics
Topics in Health Economics
Topics in Labour Economics
Topics in Microeconomics Theory
Urban and Regional Economics
Spatial Econometric Models and Methods
Real Estate Economics

Through the ARTs, the students develop working relationship with our faculty, and start the development of their research ideas. The students also continue with their development of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, through our international elective where students choose either International Trade or International Macroeconomics.

Third Year

The students move fully into research gear in their third year. At this time, the students put together their research proposals, defend it, and write their first serious research paper - the 'third year paper' - which often grows into the first chapter of their dissertations. Students at this stage also start attending seminars and presenting in our workshops. Many of our students also join one or more of our 'study groups', where faculty and student meet regularly to discuss new developments and exciting new working papers and publications. Current study groups includes the Econometrics Study Group, the Time Series Econometrics Study Group, the Macro-Labour Study Group, and the International Trade Study Group.

Fourth and Fifth Years

Students at this stage continue with the dissertation work, working on their second and third papers, submitting to journals, presenting at conferences. Some or our more advanced students are able to finish their dissertations in four years, through most require five. The fifth year is also when most of our students enter the job market.

Although developing you into productive researchers is our primary objective, our program also aims to help you develop other skills which you will need to become good communicators, presenters and teachers. Some of our senior students are also given the opportunity and the responsibility of teaching entire undergraduate classes on their own. All of this, of course, culminates in strong, well-rounded graduates, who are competitive for jobs in industry, international organizations, and academic positions the world over -- graduates who create new knowledge, new understanding, and who make a difference.

An Economics PhD programme trains you to do rigorous research and analysis in Economics. You learn to apply economic tools to understand real world problems. The training in economic theory helps you to develop conceptual frameworks to make sense of new phenomena that affect economies. A good grounding in empirical methodology enables you to find regularities in economic data, test theoretical predictions, and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative policies.  Graduates from Economics PhD programmes often go on to pursue a career of teaching and research in academia. Many graduates also go on to work in industry, the public sector, and in international organizations where they apply their economics knowledge and research capabilities to improve the economic condition of their firm, their industry, their country, or the world in general.

The Singapore Management University's Economics PhD programme is a small and highly selective programme delivered by a team of internationally recognized professors who are actively engaged in research at the frontiers of economics knowledge, and who are dedicated to teaching and training the next generation of economic researchers and thinkers, teachers, and policy makers. Our programme provides the rigorous training you will require to operate at the forefront of economic research, and provides structured interaction opportunities with our research faculty, who will guide you to the frontier of their fields. The programme also offers interaction opportunities with many of the top researchers in economics, through our very extensive seminar and visitor programmes, and the frequent international scientific conferences organized by us.

SMU's School of Economics is recognised internationally as a leading centre for economics research. In Tilburg University’s “Top 100 Economics Schools Research Ranking” based on publications in leading journals between 2016-2020, it was ranked 74th overall. It is ranked 1st in Asia and among the top 10 globally for Econometrics research.

We invite you to find out more about us and the programme we offer, and should you decide that you would like to pursue a PhD in Economics, we invite you to apply for our programme, to join us as we study together the fascinating discipline of Economics.