harvard university economics phd

Business Economics

Jointly administered by HBS and the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, students in the program are both economics and business school students, receiving the benefits of a PhD from Harvard’s world-class Economics Department along with specialized access to HBS faculty and resources.  The program combines theoretical analysis with in-depth, interdisciplinary research rooted in real-world applications.

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Phd in political economy & government.

The PhD in Political Economy and Government is designed for students interested in the impact of politics on economic processes and outcomes, and the reciprocal influence of economic conditions on political life. It is appropriate for students whose academic interests are not served by doctoral studies in Economics or Political Science alone.

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APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications for Fall 2025 are now open!

Introduce Yourself  

Application requirements  .

• PHD in Business Economics
• PHD in Business Administration (includes Accounting & Management, Marketing, Strategy, Technology & Operations Management)
• PHD in Health Policy Management
• PHD in Organizational Behavior

Attend an Outreach Event  

Non-discrimination disclosure information.

In accordance with Harvard University policy, Harvard Business School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, veteran status, or disability in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities.

Ellen Mahoney, Chief Human Resources Officer, has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies. has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies.

In addition, inquiries about the application of non-discrimination policies regarding race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability may be referred to the Regional Director, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 8th Floor,5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109-4557.

DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT

All prospective students should be aware of Harvard's policies on file sharing and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Economics Track

In this section.

• Degree Requirements
• What We Look For

The Economics track in the PhD program in Public Policy provides a curriculum for doctoral students seeking rigorous disciplinary training, with a focus on applying the tools of economics to the study of major public policy issues.

Graduates will be prepared for academic teaching and research positions in schools of public policy, economics and other disciplinary departments, as well as policy positions in national governments and international institutions.

HKS has a strong core of faculty specializing in a diverse range of subfields of economics, including labor, public and applied microeconomics topics, behavioral economics and decision sciences, environmental economics, international trade, economic development, and other subjects.

The program embeds formal economics training within a unique interdisciplinary atmosphere of scholars and practitioners who are working on problems of practice in a wide range of settings. In addition, the PhD program offers teaching and research opportunities for students with leading scholars at HKS and elsewhere at Harvard. 

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Job Placement

Placement timeline, faqs, and interview advice.

Placement Directors 2024/25: Gabriel Chodorow-Reich and Jeremy Stein To assist with the preparation and planning for the market, refer to the suggested timeline and FAQs. 

Timeline   (2024/25)

FAQ3 (coming October 2024)

Application List Template   (use this when you create your application list)

How to Do a Great Interview on Zoom  

Zoom Setup Tips: Lighting, Screens, Sound   (with thanks to Shengwu Li) 

Negotiating and Exploding Offers   (see also Advice from Chris Blattman 2014/15) 

CV, Resume, and Webpage

CV Curriculum Vitae Template  for Harvard Economics Job Market Candidates (in Word using table layout; turn on "view gridlines" to fill it out ) and general information  ( The CV Guide ) on constructing your Curriculum Vitae. 

Resume For those applying to any private-sector job, a non-academic resume is your calling card. The Office of Career Services provides excellent help in the form of workshops and Resume and Cover Letter advice and templates. Previous Harvard students give OCS high marks, especially in helping with Resume writing.

Webpage Harvard is discontinuing the creation of Open Scholar pages. Paul Millett will work with every job market student to set up their webpages on Campus Press, the Harvard substitute for Open Scholar. Students with other websites (e.g., GitHub) can then add a line (e.g., "see my personal website") on the Campus Press page to enable access to their materials, including CV, JMP, and other papers.

Advice and Resources for the Job Market  

Compiling Your List

• JOE -  https://www.aeaweb.org/joe/    JOE will be your main resource.
• EJM -  https://econjobmarket.org / EJM will also be important.

Other platforms to search include:

• European Econ Assoc -  https://www.eeassoc.org/
• APPAM -  https://www.appam.org/
• Chronicle of Higher Ed -  https://jobs.chronicle.com/
• American Finance Assoc -  https://afajof.org/
• SSRN -  https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/
• Royal Ecoonomic Society RES -  https://res.org.uk/
• Academy of Management AOM -  https://aom.org/

Writing Resources

Writing well and effectively are important skills. These resources will help.

• Claudia Goldin, The Ten Most Important Rules of Writing Your Job Market Paper
• Deidre McCloskey, Economical Writing
• William Zinsser, On Writing Well; The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Tips and Advice (from Job Market Gurus and Harvard PhDs) and More Job Market Facts

• AEA Job Market Committee 2022 Report: Job Market Openings by Sector 
• American Economic Association, Communications from the Committee on the Job Market . Some recent information on supply and demand (what else?), plus the AEA’s advice to employers.
• Alex Albright, " So You Want to Go on the Job Market ." Reflections, sage advice, and a lot of data from one of our 2022 PhD graduates (and talented holiday party emcee).
• Chris Blattman, Managing the Academic Job Market . Chris Blattman (University of Chicago Harris School) offers some of the best advice we’ve seen. Read it. Some will be more relevant and some less relevant to your specific job search.
• John Cawley, Guide and Job Market Advice (2018-2019 edition). A standard resource in economics.
• Alex Chan, My Experience in the 2022-23 Job Market  Come to the Oct. 17, 2023 placement meeting and hear Alex. 
• Shoshana Vasserman's Job Market Tips  
• Eric Zwick, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Market . Zwick graduated from Harvard in 2014 and is an Associate Professor of Finance at University of Chicago Booth School.
• Anonymous, The Market in the Time of COVID (2021).
• Non-Academic Tips and Advice . Note the advice under “Job search through connections: Who.” You have lots of friends and family – previous Harvard PhDs. If they are working at a place you’d like to be, use them as a resource to find non-academic jobs.
• PhD Program
• Program Requirements
• Job Market Candidates
• Career Placement for Prior Classes
• Financial Support

Public Policy

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The flexible nature of the program allows you to choose your own path in areas that most interest you—from microeconomic research to international development to climate change. Whichever program track you choose—economics, politics and institutions, judgment and decision sciences, and science, technology, and policy—you will have the opportunity to conduct scholarly research using the vast resources of Harvard University.

Students in the program have been involved in many diverse projects such as water research allocation in Zambia, racial disparities in the criminal justice system in Massachusetts, and the politics of the American welfare state.

Graduates of the program have gone on to teach at MIT, Duke, University of Texas, Penn State, and Yale. Others now have influential positions with NGOs like Resources for the Future, private institutions such as JP Morgan and Analysis Group, and multilateral organizations including the World Bank and Global Innovation Fund. Among the many illustrious graduates of the program is Larry Bacow, president of Harvard University.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Public Policy Program , and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Admissions Requirements

Please review the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Public Policy Program .

Academic Background

Applicants are admitted and matriculate into one of the four tracks listed below. Ordinarily, matriculated students cannot change to a different track from the one to which they were admitted. In rare and exceptional circumstances, students can apply to change tracks by submitting an application to the program. Visit the Public Policy program site for more information and to review the track-specific admissions prerequisites.

• Judgment and Decision Making
• Politics and Institutions
• Science, Technology and Policy Studies

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be no more than 20 pages long. The writing sample must be single-authored and written in English.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Required Writing Sample: Required iBT TOEFL minimum score: 103 IELTS minimum score: 7

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Public Policy

See list of Public Policy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Health Economics

The study of health economics focuses on the economic behavior of individuals; providers; insurers; and international, federal, state, and local governments and actors as their actions affect health and medical care. This includes financing health care, provider payment systems, and restructuring health systems.

Primary Faculty in Health Economics

Anna Sinaiko Benjamin Sommers Meredith Rosenthal Joseph Newhouse

News from the School

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Reducing health inequities in the Mississippi Delta

Climate change and planetary health concentration launches

Orientation 2024: New students encouraged to engage across differences

Graduate Program

Ph.d. in economics.

The Ph.D. program at Berkeley is designed for students interested in pursuing advanced study and conducting original research in Economics. The Ph.D. degree is awarded in recognition of the recipient's qualifications as a general economist and of the ability to make scholarly contributions in fields of specialization. Additionally, the Economics Ph.D. program is residential, there is no remote enrollment option. 

In advancing to the Ph.D. degree, students pass through two major stages:

• Preparation for candidacy typically takes two to three years. During the first two semesters, students take courses to achieve competence in econometric methods, methods of economic history and fundamentals of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. During the next two years, students prepare for examination in two fields of specialization of their choosing, prepare a dissertation prospectus, and take an oral examination. When these steps are completed, students are advanced to candidacy.
• Completion of a dissertation after advancing to candidacy typically takes one to two years. The dissertation must be based on original research and represent a significant contribution to the body of Economic knowledge.

The entire process takes approximately five to six years, although some students are able to complete the program in less time. Below is an overview of the program requirements by year and other pertinent information.

Program Requirements

• Years 4 to 6
• Program Rules
• Frequently Used Forms
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