Second Year of the Ph.D. Program

During the second year of the Ph.D. program, students continue building the fundamental tools of an applied economist and develop expertise in their field and concentration. Students develop and hone their research and writing skills through significant research activities in each of the AEDE Econ core courses, culminating in a paper that fulfills the second-year Research Compentency Requirement.

AED Economics Core Sequence (25 hours, 15 in the second year)

• AEDE 802 Applied Computational Economics: numerical analysis of economic change over time, using stochastic dynamic models emphasizing formulation, solution, and simulation of policies and trends.  Past students have used methods learned in this course in dissertation research on a wide range of topics in environmental, development, and agricultural economics.
• AEDE 806 Organizational Economics: applications of microeconomic theory to the analysis of organizations, market structure, incentive designs, and the internal structure of firms of all kinds.  This material is at the cutting edge of applied economics, and students gain knowledge and skills likely to prove useful in dissertation research.
• AEDE 809 Welfare Economics and Policy Analysis: analysis of the efficiency and equity of various economic policies.  The course expands students' knowledge of microeconomics, providing concepts and tools useful in the dissertation phase and throughout their career.

The Research Competency Requirement

In the first and second years, students engage in a variety of preparatory research activities in the AED Econ core courses. Building upon skills and experience acquired in the core, concentration, and elective courses, students prepare a research paper during the second year, submitting it by the end of Spring Quarter.  This project provides essential preparation for the next step of the program.  Through the process of identifying a topic, reviewing relevant literature, elaborating a theoretical framework, gathering data, analyzing data, and writing and editing the manuscript, the student develops and hones skills that are essential for successful research in the dissertation phase and beyond graduation.

After fulfilling the Research Competency Requirement, students move into the dissertation phase of the program in the third and fourth years.