PhD Courses

Worksheet for PhD in Economics or Agricultural Economics (pdf)

Fall Semester:

  • EconS 500 Macroeconomic Theory I – Introduction to dynamics, growth and investment, overlapping generations models, Ramsey model, consumption and investment.
  • EconS 501 Microeconomic Theory I – Microeconomic theory, multivariate optimization, consumer and producer theory, competitive partial equilibrium, introduction to imperfect competition.
  • EconS 506 Mathematics for Economists – The course focuses on real analysis, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, unconstrained and constrained static optimization, differential and difference equations, dynamic constrained optimization, and dynamic programming.
  • EconS 510 Statistics for Economists – Statistical theory underlying econometric techniques utilized in quantitative analysis of problems in economics and finance.
  • EconS 512 Econometrics II – Econometric methods for systems estimation; simultaneous equations, discrete and limited dependent variable, panel data, and time series data.
  • EconS 571 International Economics (taught in alternate years with EconS 583) – Recent developments in trade theory and policy, including international factor movements, empirical analysis of trade flows and strategic trade policies.
  • EconS 582 Environmental Economics – Economic theory for environmental issues; externalities, property rights, and welfare analysis; policy design and implementation; non-market valuation and cost/benefit analysis.
  • EconS 583 Public Sector Economics (taught in alternate years with EconS 571) – Public sector and public choice economics, including government debt and tax policy, public decision making, bureaucratic behavior and rent-seeking, with applications.
  • EconS 594 Theory of Industrial Organization – Theory of market structure and firm behavior, including price and non-price competition, information and strategic behavior, and technological change.
  • EconS 596 Advanced Topics in Financial Economics – May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 12 hours. Topics may include financial theory and empirical methods as applied to financial management, investments, international finance, and markets/institutions.

Spring Semester:

  • EconS 502 Macroeconomic Theory II – Macroeconomic theory, short-run fluctuations and nominal rigidities, monetary economics and inflation, real business cycle models, unemployment international macroeconomics.
  • EconS 503 Microeconomic Theory II – General equilibrium, welfare economics and social choice, market failure, game theory, economics of information.
  • EconS 504 Production and Consumption Economics (Taught in even alternate years) – Advanced duality topics, demand and supply system modeling, financial economics and risk.
  • EconS 511 Econometrics I – General equilibrium, welfare economics and social choice, market failure, game theory, economics of information.
  • EconS 513 Econometrics III (currently taught in even alternate years) – Linear and non-linear models and maximum likelihood estimation and inference; semi-parametric and parametric methods; limited dependent variable models.
  • EconS 514 Econometrics IV (currently taught in odd alternate years) – Constrained estimation, testing hypotheses, bootstrap resampling, BMM estimation and inference, nonparametric regression analysis, and an introduction to Bayesian econometrics.
  • EconS 572 International Development – Structural and two-sector growth models of developing countries and countries in transition; empirical estimation of sources of growth.
  • EconS581 Natural Resource Economics – Economic dynamics of natural resource systems.
  • EconS 593 Applications in Microeconomic Topics – Applied topics in healthcare, sports, transportation and other markets.

Both Semesters

  • AFS 505 – Topics in Computational and Analytical Methods for Scientists. – Typically offered in the Fall semester, R programming, and in the Spring semester, Python and Big data computing.
  • EconS 598 PhD Research Seminar – May be repeated for credit; cumulative maximum 4 hours. Seminar focusing on PhD students presenting their own research and critically assessing the research of other PhD students. S, F grading.
  • EconS 599 Special Topics in Economics
  • EconS 600 Special Projects or Independent Study – May be repeated for credit. Independent study, special projects, and/or internships. Students must have graduate degree-seeking status and should check with their major advisor before enrolling in 600 credit, which cannot be used toward the core graded credits required for a graduate degree. S, F grading.
  • EconS 800 Doctoral Research, Dissertation, and/or Examination – May be repeated for credit. Independent research and advanced study for students working on their doctoral research, dissertation and/or final examination. Students must have graduate degree-seeking status and should check with their major advisor/committee chair before enrolling for 800 credit.

Contact Info

Dr. Jeffrey Luckstead

Chair, Graduate Studies Committee
Hulbert 103E
509-335-1940
jluckstead@wsu.edu