Research at SOE

Faculty members in the School of Economics are active in research, and have published in journals such as Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Theory, Econometric Theory, Review of Economic Studies, International Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of International Economics, Social Choice and Welfare, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Journal of the American Statistical Association, and Biometrics. Based on publications over a 5-year period in 68 leading economics journals, the School of Economics is ranked amongst the Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools.

The School has implemented a Research Collaboration Programme to inculcate a vibrant research environment and to promote global collaboration with research scholars of leading universities around the world. Through this programme, researchers are invited and supported by the School for short-term visits of up to two weeks for joint research with the School's faculty.

From 2004 to 2007, the school organized annually the Singapore Econometrics Study Group Meetings that brought together active researchers to present their work over a couple of days. The Singapore Econometrics Study Group evolved into the Centre for Financial Econometrics, one of four centres under the Sim Kee Boon Institute of Financial Economics (SKBI) when the Institute was established in 2008.

Through the Distinguished Public Lecture Series, eminent scholars are invited to deliver lectures to the academic faculty and general public. Nobel Laureate Lawrence Klein (1920 - 2013) from the University of Pennsylvania, Ronald McKinnon from Stanford University, Peter Phillips from Yale University, Nobel Laureate Edmund S Phelps from Columbia University, Nobel Laureate Robert Engle from New York University, Dani Rodrik and Dale Jorgenson from Harvard University are among the speakers who have delivered lectures under the Series.

The School has a Working Paper Series that publishes the preliminary research findings of the faculty. Many of these papers are subsequently published in scholarly journals.

To promote the dissemination of research findings, the School also holds a regular seminar series in economics and statistics, featuring presentations by in-house faculty and regional and international speakers. In addition, the school hosts a Research Workshop where preliminary research is presented. 

Faculty members also undertake policy-oriented research and communicate their findings through writings of op-ed pieces in newspapers such as The Straits Times, The Business Times, and International Herald Tribune as well as in publications by organizations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Singapore Civil Service College. In addition, they provide consultancy services to various government ministries and agencies in their individual areas of expertise and contribute to the research activities of research centres and institutes at SMU.

Lastly being a research-intensive university, SMU offers two types of doctoral programmes, namely the PhD Programmes & the Practice Research Doctorate Programmes