Applied Economics

An Interdisciplinary Program

College of Agriculture and

Life Sciences

Dr. Vance Watson, Dean

College of Business and Industry

Dr. Sara Freedman, Dean

Department of Finance and Economics

Dr. Paul Grimes, Department Head

Dr. Ben Blair, Graduate Coordinator

326 McCool Hall

662-325-2341

gsb@cobilan.msstate.edu 

grad-econ@cobilan.msstate.edu

The Ph.D. in Applied Economics is a cooperative program offered by the graduate economics faculty of the College of Business and Industry and the Agricultural Economics faculty of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.  The program provides advanced training in economic science to prepare graduates for research and teaching positions in academia, government, and business.  For additional program information, e-mail the Economics Graduate Coordinator at grad-econ@cobilan.msstate.edu or phone 662-325-2341.

Admission Criteria—To obtain regular admission status, an applicant must meet all University-wide graduate admission requirements and must achieve acceptable scores on each section of the GRE (verbal, quantitative, and analytical).  A minimum TOEFL score of 575 is required for international students.

A student must have previously completed intermediate microeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, differential and integral calculus, and one semester of statistics before beginning the required course sequence.  Applications are reviewed in the spring semester for enrollment in the following fall semester.  Graduate research and teaching assistantship decisions are usually made in March.

Program of Study—The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 48 hours of course work plus a dissertation (minimum of 20 hours).  Course work can be completed in two and one-half years, excluding summers.  All students enroll in a core curriculum composed of courses in microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory and econometrics.  A preliminary qualifying examination over economic theory and quantitative skills is administered after completion of the first-year courses.

Guided by his or her interests and career goals, the student may specialize in a number of areas by taking either the College of Business and Industry track or the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences track.  Specific applied fields of specialization available include financial economics, regional economic development, natural resource and environmental economics, international economics, public economics, labor economics, ind ustrial organization, agricultural production and marketing economics, and economic history and history of economic thought.  A field consists of a minimum of two approved graduate course electives in one area of specialization.  A student entering through the College of Business and Industry earn an applied field in financial economics and one additional field.  Although the Department of Finance and Economics and the Department of Agricultural Economics teach the approved field courses, a student may, in consultation with his or her program of study Committee, include courses from related disciplines such as business, public administration, mathematics, and statistics.  Prior to entering the dissertation stage, the student must pass a written comprehensive examination over the applied skills courses. 

The dissertation is completed under the supervision of a major professor and an advisory committee drawn from the graduate faculty in the Departments of Finance and Economics and Agricultural Economics.  Completion of the degree requires the student to present and defend the dissertation work to the satisfaction of the graduate economics faculty.

Provisional Admission—A student who initially obtains provisional admission status must receive a 3.00 GPA on all core courses taken during the first nine hours of enrollment in the program to achieve regular admission status.  Neither transfer hours nor unclassified graduate hours can be used to fulfill this requirement. 

Academic Performance—The student will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program in Applied Economics for any of the following reasons:

1.       Failure to complete each of the following core courses with a grade of C or higher:

EC 8163                        Microeconomics I

      EC 8263                        Microeconomics II

      EC 8173                        Macroeconomics I

      EC 8273                        Macroeconomics II

      EC 8133                        Econometrics I

      EC 8145                        Econometrics II

2.       Making more than two grades below a B on courses in the student’s program of study after admission to the program.

3.       Qualifying examination:

a) Failure to sit for this exam in the summer after the first year of course work, unless granted a postponement due to extenuating circumstances.

b) Failure to sit for a required retake of this exam at the first opportunity.

c) Failure to obtain a passing grade on this exam.

4.       Applied skills paper:

a) Failure to meet any deadline specified for this paper.

b) Failure to obtain a passing grade on this paper.

A student may appeal a dismissal decision by following normal appeal procedures.

Prerequisite and Core Courses—A student must have previously completed the following undergraduate courses (or the equivalents) with a grade of C or higher before beginning the required graduate course sequence:

MA 1613        Calculus for Business and Life Sciences I

MA 1623        Calculus for Business and Life Sciences II

EC 3113        Intermediate Macroeconomics

EC 3123        Intermediate Microeconomics

ST 2113         Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

All students admitted to the program enroll in a rigorous core curriculum composed of courses in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, econometrics, research methodology, and applied skills. 

Curriculum Tracks—The student may choose from two curriculum tracks: one with specialized fields from the College of Business and Industry or one with specialized fields from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

 Business and Industry Track

Fall Semester, First Year

AEC 6713      Quantitative Economics.  3 hours

AEC 8163      Consumers, Producers, and Markets.  3 hours

EC 8522        Seminar in the History of Economic Thought.  2 hours

FIN 8112       Capital Acquisition and Allocation. 2 hours*

FIN 8122       Corporate Liquidity Analysis. 2 hours*

*May be waived by previous credit in FIN

Spring Semester, First Year

EC 8163        Microeconomics I. 3 hours

EC 8173        Macroeconomics I. 3 hours

EC 8133        Econometrics I. 3 hours

Fall Semester, Second Year

EC 8263        Microeconomics II.  3 hours

EC 8173        Macroeconomics II.  3 hours

EC 8133        Econometrics II. 3 hours

Spring Semester, Second Year

EC 8643        Advanced Estimation and Diagnostics of Econometric Models. 3 hours

EC 8313        Regional Economic Analysis. 3 hours

FIN 8000       Level Field Elective. 3 hours

Fall Semester, Third Year

Economics Field Elective.  3 hours

Finance Field Elective.  3 hours

EC 9000        Dissertation.  6 hours

Spring Semester, Third Year

Economics Field Elective.  3 hours

EC 9000        Dissertation.  6 hours

Fourth Year

EC 9000        Dissertation.  11 hours minimum

Agriculture and Life Sciences Track

Fall Semester, First Year

AEC 6713      Quantitative Economics.  3 hours

AEC 8163      Consumers, Producers and Markets.  3 hours

EC 8522        Seminar in the History of Economic Thought.  3 hours

EC 8153        Research Philosophy and Methodology in Economics. 3 hours

Spring Semester, First Year

EC 8163        Microeconomics I.  3 hours

EC 8173        Macroeconomics I.  3 hours

EC 8133        Econometrics I.  3 hours

Fall Semester, Second Year

EC 8263        Microeconomics II.  3 hours

EC 8173        Macroeconomics II.  3 hours

EC 8133        Econometrics II.  3 hours

Spring Semester, Second Year

EC 8643        Advanced Estimation and Diagnostics of Econometric Models.3 hours

AEC 8172      Topics in Applied Economics: Production and Supply.  2 hours

AEC 8722      Topics in Applied Economics: Marketing and Demand.  2 hours 

Agricultural Economics Field Elective.  3 hours

Fall Semester, Third Year

AEC 8733      Topics in Applied Economics: Welfare Policy and Analysis. 3 hours

Agricultural Economics Field Elective.  3 hours

AEC 9000      Dissertation.  3 hours

Spring Semester, Third Year

Agricultural Economics Field Elective.  3 hours

AEC 9000      Dissertation.  6 hours

Fourth Year

AEC 9000      Dissertation.  11 hours minimum

Available Field Electives

Economic History and History of Economic Thought

EC 6183        U.S. Economic History

EC 6523        History of Economic Thought

AEC 8153      Research Philosophy and Methodology in Economics

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

AEC 6233      Advanced Topics in Environmental Economics

AEC 8833      Environmental Resources and Economics

Experimental Economics

AEC 8843      Survey Design and Experimental Economics

AEC 7000      Readings in Experimental Economics

Finance

FIN 8223       Case Problems in Corporate Finance

FIN 8233       Advanced Financial Management

FIN 8313       Financial Management of Projects

FIN 8423       Po rtfolio Management

FIN 8723       Financial Institutions Management

FIN 8733       Financial Markets, Rates, and Flows

Industrial Organization

EC 8183        Indus trial Organization

EC 7000        Readings in Industrial Organization

International Economics

EC 6323        International Economic Relations

EC 6303        Theory of Economic Development

EC 8323        Economic Analysis of Developing Nations

AEC 8823      The International Economy

FIN 6923       International Financial Management

Public Economics

EC 6423        Introduction to Public Finance

EC 6433        Problems in State and Local Finance

EC 8423        Public Finance

AEC 8733      Topics in Applied Economics: Analysis Welfare and Po licy

Labor Economics

EC 6213        Personnel Economics

EC 6223        Labor Law and Employment Po licy

EC 8113        Labor Theory and Analysis

Regional Economic Development

EC 6313        Introduction to Regional Economics

EC 6333        Applied Regional Economics

Completion Requirements—The dissertation is completed under the supervision of the student’s Graduate Committee.  Completion of the degree requires students to present and defend their dissertation work to the satisfaction of the Graduate Economics Faculty.