WMU Econ PhD program

The information in this brochure was accurate at the time of publication. Minor program changes may have occurred since then. If you have questions, write or phone a department advisor or contact The Graduate College.

It is the policy and commitment of Western Michigan University not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national origin, height, weight, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, handicap, or veteran status in its educational programs, activities, admissions, or employment policies in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and all other pertinent state and federal regulations. GRP 94-057/0894/2M

Recent studies have found that non-academic employers of Ph.D.-level economists are concerned about the training that existing programs give their graduates. In a 1991 report commissioned by the American Economic Association, Dr. Anne O. Krueger reported that the proportion of new economics doctorates taking their first job in academia has significantly declined and that universities are not adequately serving the non-academic portion of the market. She wrote that "...our major concern focuses on the extent to which graduate education in economics may have become too removed from real economic problems...and that the focus on developing skills required for applied research should be stronger...." The WMU Ph.D. program in Applied Economics is designed to address this need.

WMU's program retains a core curriculum as is required by traditional Ph.D. programs in economics, but requires that students participate in a series of applied economics workshops and complete a one-year internship in a non-academic organization. Doctoral students intern with organizations such as city, county, or state government agencies; consulting or research firms and institutes; financial institutions; businesses, and hospitals. This internship is conducted under the aegis of an employee of the organization as well as a Department of Economics faculty member. The purpose of this internship is to give students the incentive and opportunity to apply their knowledge of economic theory and empirical methods to the actual problems faced by these organizations. The internship is also intended to provide the subject of the student's dissertation and therefore send the Department's graduates into the job market with a somewhat different orientation than that of graduates from traditional programs.

The Ph.D. program is designed to be completed within four years by a student entering with good undergraduate economics and quantitative methods (mathematics and statistics) training or a Master of Arts in Economics. It is not uncommon, however, for a doctoral program to take somewhat longer.

The Department of Economics at Western Michigan University serves approximately 5,000 undergraduate students annually. Of these, nearly 200 are economics majors or minors. In addition, the department has about forty full-time graduate students in its long- established M.A. program. The economics department has nineteen full-time and five adjunct faculty, with a wide range of research interests. The common theme to this research is that it is applied research. The faculty's belief in the importance of using state-of-the-art economic theory and empirical methods to address the myriad problems of an economic nature confronted outside the classroom has led it to introduce a program of study leading to a Ph.D. degree in Applied Economics.

Admission Requirements

For admission to the Ph.D. program in Applied Economics, students must satisfy all the criteria identified in the Graduate College Catalog. In addition, the Department of Economics requires:

GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical)
High-level undergraduate or M.A.-level micro and macroeconomic theory
Undergraduate calculus and statistics
A personal statement discussing your career plans
Three letters of reference from persons in a position to assess your qualifications for doctoral-level study and likelihood of successful completion of the Ph.D. degree

Financial Assistance and Application Procedures

Forms for admission and financial assistance may be requested from the Admissions Office, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008.

To receive full consideration for financial assistance, all applications and supporting documents must be received by February 15. The deadline for admission without financial assistance is in mid-June but late applications will be considered if space is available.

Program Components

The course of study described in this section requires the completion of ninty credit hours of coursework at the Ph.D. level. This includes eighteen hours of workshops, eighteen hours of internship, and fifteen hours of doctoral dissertation.

Core requirements

Each student is required to take a core of nine courses: four theory courses, and five courses in quantitative economics. Seven of these nine courses are taken during the student's first year: ECON 604 Mathematical Economics, 3 hrs. ECON 619 Introduction to Econometrics, 3 hrs. ECON 622 Economic Statistics, 3 hrs. ECON 665 Microeconomic Theory I, 3 hrs. ECON 666 Microeconomic Theory II, 3 hrs. ECON 675 Macroeconomic Theory I, 3 hrs. ECON 676 Macroeconomic Theory II, 3 hrs. In the fall semester of the second year, students are administered a qualifying examination in economic theory. Upon passing this examination, the student is considered a candidate for the Ph.D. degree.

Field requirements

Each student is required to specialize in two of the following fields:
1. Economic development
2. Human resource economics
3. Monetary economics
4. Business economics/industrial organization
5. International economics

To specialize in a particular area, students take a sequence of two courses. Students are required to pass a field qualifying examination in each specialization as well as one in econometrics.

Thus, students' curricula in their second year is composed of four field courses plus: ECON 670 Advanced Econometrics I, 3 hrs; ECON 671 Advanced Econometrics II, 3 hrs; ECON 699; Workshop, 3 hrs.

Workshops, the internship, and the dissertation

The dissertation is the culminating experience for each student. It is expected that dissertations will be extensions of the internship report. Dissertations are based on economic theory, employ modern econometric methodology, and focus on solving real-world problems. The defense of the dissertation will take the form of an oral examination and otherwise conform to University policy.

The candidate's third year will be spent doing the internship (ECON 712) and taking three workshops (ECON 699). The fourth year will be spent taking two additional workshops and concentrating on the dissertation.

The nature and structure of workshops

Doctoral candidates are required to participate in six workshops designed to deepen their understanding of theoretical and empirical economics by giving them the opportunity to discuss the research being conducted by the department's faculty, economists from other institutions, and graduate students. These workshops are the principle instrument for teaching students how to construct and execute a research project and for familiarizing them with a great variety of applied economic research.

An Applied Economics Workshop (ECON 699) is offered each semester and during the spring session. Because a workshop is intended as a forum for presenting on-going and recently completed research, the faculty member in charge of the workshop facilitates a seminar-type discussion based on the presenter's work. Presenters include the students in the class, other Ph.D. students, economists doing applied research at non-academic organizations, and faculty involved in applied research from this and other economics departments. Students have the opportunity to become familiar with a great variety of applied economic research and make comparisons to their own internship projects.

The nature and role of the internship

In the third year, candidates intern at a non-academic organization. Examples of such organizations include state, county, and local government agencies; consulting or research firms; financial institutions; businesses; hospitals; and health care organizations. Interns are required to carry out an extensive analysis of a real-world economic problem and to prepare a report on the solution to that problem. The internship comes at a time in the program when students have completed their core courses in economic theory and methods as well as field courses, which contain a mixture of theory and applications. The internship provides students an opportunity to put what they have learned into practice and to gain practical experience. The intern works under the close scrutiny of a faculty advisor, who approves the topic and provides primary supervision of the intern. Supervision is also provided by one or more individuals at the sponsoring organization. These individuals are most closely familiar with the institutional setting of the problem and with the available data.

Each internship is tailored to the individual student. However, the internship is normally within commuting distance of the University. Interns are typically unpaid and are expected to work approximately twenty hours per week on the internship project. Advisors and students are matched on the basis of mutual interest in the internship project. To ensure that interns are properly supervised and that their internships are rewarding, each faculty member has no more than two advisees.

The dissertation

An original doctoral dissertation is required of all students in accordance with The Graduate College's regulations and the regulations established by the department. It is expected that the dissertation will be an outgrowth of a student's internship project. The dissertation should be so designed as to take no more than one additional year (year four) after the internship year.

Students shall work with a dissertation committee under whose guidance the dissertation will be written. It is expected that the student's internship advisor will act as chairperson of the dissertation committee.

A satisfactory oral defense of the dissertation completes all the requirements of the Ph.D. degree.

Ph.D. in Applied Economics