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28 Hillhouse Avenue, 203.432.3575 http://economics.yale.edu M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Chair Tony Smith

Director of Graduate Studies Yuichi Kitamura (30 Hillhouse Ave., 203.432.3699, [email protected] )

Professors   Joseph Altonji, Donald Andrews, Konstantinos Arkolakis, Orazio Attanasio, Dirk Bergemann, Steven Berry, Xiaohong Chen, Ray Fair, Howard Forman ( Public Health ), John Geanakoplos, Pinelopi Goldberg, Philip Haile, Marina Halac, Gerald Jaynes, Amit Khandelwal, Yuichi Kitamura, Alvin Klevorick, Samuel Kortum, Giovanni Maggi, Costas Meghir, Robert Mendelsohn ( School of the Environment ), A. Mushfiq Mobarak ( Management ), Giuseppe Moscarini, Kaivan Munshi, William Nordhaus, Gerard Padró i Miquel, Rohini Pande, Benjamin Polak, Mark Rosenzweig, Larry Samuelson, Katja Seim ( Management ), Tony Smith, Philipp Strack, Aleh Tsyvinski, Edward Vytlacil, Fabrizio Zilibotti  

Associate Professors   José-Antonio Espín-Sánchez , Mira Frick, Zhen Huo, Mitsuru Igami, Ryota Iijima, Ilse Lindenlaub, Michael Peters, Nicholas Ryan 

Assistant Professors   Lauren Bergquist, Max Cytrynbaum, Eduardo Davila, Charles Hodgson, John Eric Humphries, Yusuke Narita, Cormac O’Dea, Winnie van Dijk  

Fields of Study

Fields include microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, labor, public finance, industrial organization, international trade and finance, financial economics, environmental economics, economic development, economic history, political economy, and behavioral economics.

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Exceptions to the requirements described below may be obtained only by vote of the Economics faculty and will be granted only in recognition of extenuating circumstances.

Prior to Registration for the Second Year

(1.1) Students must have taken for credit and passed at least six economics graduate courses. With the permission of the director of graduate studies (DGS), courses in related fields can be used to fulfill this requirement. (Courses in the International and Development Economics master’s program do not satisfy this requirement.) (1.2) Students who earn a grade of HP- or better in each of the four first-year courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics may proceed directly to the second year. In June and August of each year, the department will give waiver exams in micro and macro, written and graded to the extent possible by a committee of faculty who have taught the first-year courses in the previous year. First-year students who do not earn a grade of HP- or better in each of the first-year micro or macro courses must either take and pass the corresponding exam in June or take the exam in June and then (in the event of failure) take and pass the exam in August in order to continue in the program. A student who obtains an HP- or better in one term of a sequence, but not the other, must take (and retake, if necessary) only the waiver exam corresponding to the term in which they failed to obtain an HP- or better. Students who have not passed all the required examinations prior to the second year of study may register as master’s candidates for the following fall term for the purpose of completing enough courses to be eligible for the Master of Arts degree.

Exceptionally well prepared incoming students may petition the DGS and the faculty in the field to take the waiver exam before their first year, with an eye toward placing out of either one or both terms of either of the first-year micro or macro courses. Incoming students taking the waiver exam will be exempt from the corresponding course only if their performance is an exemplary (rather than marginal) pass.

Prior to Registration for the Third Year

(2.1) Students must have met the graduate school’s requirement of Honors in two courses. (2.2) Students must have taken at least fourteen term courses in economics and have received a grade of at least a P- in each of them. With the permission of the DGS, courses in related fields and independent reading courses can be used to fulfill this requirement. Workshops may not be used to satisfy it. (2.3) Students must have received an average of at least HP in the courses they have taken. The admissibility of courses for this requirement is the same as for the fourteen-course requirement, (2.2). Grades within the Economics department include pluses and minuses. The grade average is computed as follows. A failure counts as a zero, a P- as a 1, a P as a 2, a P+ as a 3, an HP- as a 4, and so on up to a 9 for an H+. The arithmetic average of these numbers must be at least 4.5. (2.4) All students must have submitted a draft of their empirical paper, discussed in (3.3) below. (2.5) All students must make their first attempt at each of two qualifying examinations by June 30 of their second year in the program. The examinations test a student’s general analytic ability in economics and knowledge of two fields chosen by the student. Fields are typically drawn from microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, labor, public finance, industrial organization, international trade and finance, financial economics, environmental economics, economic development, economic history, political economy, and behavioral economics. Students may request examination in a special field designed in consultation with Economics department faculty. The choice of fields must be approved by the DGS. Students may list two preferred examiners in each field. The DGS’s office strives to satisfy these preferences subject to faculty availability and the number of students making similar requests. The nature and content of the field qualifying exams will be determined by the faculty in the field (i.e. these exams might require written work, depending on the field).  If a student fails a field qualifying exam in the spring of the second year, the student must either retake the exam in that field or may take an exam in a different field. In either case, the student must pass this second attempt, whether in the same field or not, in the fall of the third year to remain in the program.

Admission to Candidacy

The Economics department adheres strictly to the graduate school requirement that students be admitted to candidacy prior to registration for the fourth year of study. Students are recommended to the graduate school for admission to candidacy by vote of the Department of Economics faculty after having completed requirements (2.1), (2.2), and (2.3) above, the graduate school’s prospectus requirement, and the following additional requirements. (3.1) Students must have completed two one-term prospectus workshops, one in each term of the third year. All prospectus workshops have the word “prospectus” in their title. If students can find no prospectus workshop corresponding to their interests, they may substitute other workshops to meet this requirement. In order for two workshops to count toward the prospectus requirement, students must make a presentation in each workshop and present original work in one of them. This stipulation applies even if a workshop is not labeled as a prospectus workshop. If students can find no workshop whatsoever in their area of interest, they may substitute an independent study course guided by a faculty member, provided the independent study leads to a dissertation prospectus that is accepted. (3.2) Students must receive a grade of HP- or better in ECON 551 (Econometrics II) or ECON 552 (Econometrics III). More advanced courses may be substituted for these with permission of the DGS. (3.3) Students must receive a grade of Satisfactory on an empirical paper, which is evaluated by a faculty adviser or an instructor of ECON 556 . In the paper, the student should (a) specify an economic model useful for the investigation of an interesting economic problem, (b) select data and econometric methods appropriate to the question, (c) conduct proper statistical analysis, and (d) interpret the results in an intelligent way. The department’s posted description of the empirical paper requirement should answer any questions about it. The paper may be written in the course ECON 556 or independently with the help of a faculty adviser, the standards for a satisfactory paper being the same in both cases. The paper is not expected to be of publishable or nearly publishable quality but should demonstrate facility in the application of econometric methods to an economic question. Note: Jointly authored papers will not be accepted. (3.4) Students must complete with a grade of at least HP- a term of economic history, drawn from a list of courses approved by the DGS and the economic history instructors. (3.5) Students must pass two field qualifying examinations given by committees of faculty members. These exams are discussed in (2.5) above.

Additional Requirements

(1) All students must give a dissertation prospectus to their advisory committee by the second Friday in May of their third year. (2) Students must provide, via email,  the names of their advisory committee consisting of two members to the DGS’s office by February 1 of the third year.  The student should indicate which faculty member is the main advisor for the purpose of reviewing their annual DPR (Dissertation Progress Report). (3) In each academic year after the second, all students must regularly attend at least two workshops. At least one of them must be an “informal” prospectus workshop lunch or reading group, and at least one must be a “formal” research workshop. Each student must present at least once a year in one or other of the workshops that they regularly attend in the third and fourth years. (4) Third-year students who have not yet satisfied the empirical paper requirement must submit an empirical paper by February 1.

The Dissertation

The dissertation should make an original contribution to economics that demonstrates the student’s mastery of relevant resources and methods. Although the dissertation may cover several related topics, it should have a unifying theme. The dissertation may consist of one or more than one essay. The dissertation is guided by a committee of two advisers, at least one of whom must be a member of the Economics department. The second adviser need not be from the Economics department or even from Yale University. Second advisers from outside the Yale Economics department must be approved by the DGS. The two advisers serve as readers. After the student has completed a first draft of the dissertation, the DGS appoints a third reader. The student and the committee may recommend third readers, but the choice remains with the DGS, since the third reader serves as an independent referee.

Collaborative Work in the Dissertation

The Economics department’s objective regarding collaboration is to achieve a reasonable compromise between two goals. While the department wishes to encourage collaborative research among students and between students and faculty, a dissertation should demonstrate the student’s ability to do independent research. The dissertation committee and the DGS must approve the inclusion of collaborative work in the dissertation, and students must acknowledge and describe any collaboration in the preface to the dissertation.

Expiration of Admission to Candidacy

Advancement to candidacy expires ten years after the date it is granted, if no dissertation has been submitted and approved in the intervening period.

Normal Sequence of Studies

What follows in the next three paragraphs are recommendations, not requirements.

During the fall term of the first year, students usually take ECON 500 (General Economic Theory: Microeconomics), ECON 510 (General Economic Theory: Macroeconomics), ECON 550 (Econometrics I). In the following spring, they usually take ECON 501 (General Economic Theory: Microeconomics), ECON 511 (General Economic Theory: Macroeconomics), ECON 551 (Econometrics II). Students who are well prepared in econometrics may take an advanced econometrics course instead of ECON 550 in the fall of the first year after consulting the DGS and an appropriate econometrics faculty member.

Students typically also take a course in economic history in either the fall or spring term, that would satisfy the economic history requirement, (3.4) above, if a grade of at least HP- were obtained. Taking the history course in the spring may be more appropriate for students concerned about making the transition to graduate school in the fall.

During the second year, students normally take ECON 556 and satisfy the empirical paper requirement. Students also take economics courses in specialized fields, such as economic theory, macroeconomics, econometrics, labor, public finance, industrial organization, international trade and finance, financial economics, environmental economics, economic development, economic history, political economy, and behavioral economics. These courses serve as preparation for the qualifying examinations and allow students to identify potential areas of study for dissertation research. As they identify an area, students should locate a faculty adviser to advise them about their studies. Students may also take courses related to economics from other departments.

The third year is normally devoted to finding a dissertation topic and to beginning research on it. In this year, students are expected to make the transition from being a taker of classes to a participant in research. Important elements in achieving this transition are thinking critically about material learned, reading widely, choosing research topics that are feasible and of interest to the student, and gaining contact with faculty. Students should expect to take the initiative in making such contact.

Combined Ph.D. Degrees

A combined degree results in the award of one Ph.D. with two departments named. It is not two separate degrees, and the student is not expected to fulfill all the requirements of both departments.

Purpose  Combined degrees are intended to provide a sufficiently broad training program for a student wishing to complete an interdisciplinary dissertation.

Program Design  Combined-degree programs are designed on an ad hoc basis by the student, the DGSs of the two departments, and the appropriate associate dean of the graduate school.

Timing  Most combined degrees are proposed by students during the summer after the first year of study. Students are not given extra time or funding to complete combined degrees. In particular, students must advance to candidacy by the end of their third year of study.

Degree of Integration  A combined program should synthesize the knowledge and methods of the two departments into a single study. Ideally the dissertation should be equally strong in both fields. For example, a dissertation with the first half focused on economics and the second half focused on political science would not be acceptable.

Administrative Requirements  An ad hoc combined degree program is established in the following steps.

• A program is initiated by writing of a pre-prospectus by the student. This document describes how and why the two fields are to be integrated.
• The student recruits a faculty dissertation adviser from each department and obtains their approval of the pre-prospectus, perhaps modified in response to their advice.
• The student recruits two other faculty members to serve on the dissertation committee, one from each department.
• The student discusses the requirements for a combined degree with both departmental DGSs.
• The student prepares a comprehensive study plan that contains a list of courses and examinations agreed on by both DGSs and approved by both departments. The goals of the course selection are to give some breadth of knowledge of both fields and prepare the student to complete the dissertation. A key to success in combined programs is not to require too many courses and to focus on preparation for dissertation research. Requirements include successful completion of ECON 500 , ECON 501 , ECON 510 , and ECON 511 with grades of at least HP-; please see (1.2) for a complete description of the requirement. Normally the two departments administer qualifying examinations. This procedure may require the production of examinations that both departments evaluate simultaneously. The plan of study should contain the following: (a) a cover sheet for approvals by both dissertation advisers, both DGSs, and the appropriate associate dean of the graduate school, (b) an introduction where the student explains the rational for proposing the ad hoc combined degree, and (c) a term-by-term timeline listing all classes, teaching, and required examinations.
• Both departments must accept the dissertation prospectus.
• The plan of study is a contract, and the student must receive written permission in advance from both DGSs and the appropriate associate dean of the graduate school for any changes to the plan.
• Once everyone agrees and the plan of study is approved, the combined program is recorded in Banner.

Funding and Teaching  The department that first admitted the student is the “primary department.” The student’s funding is from the primary department, as is the teaching expectation. Ideally students should obtain teaching experience from both departments.

Master’s Degrees

M.Phil.  The M.Phil. degree is awarded to students in the Ph.D. program upon completion of all the requirements for advancement to candidacy for a doctorate in economics except the prospectus and prospectus workshop requirements.

M.A.  Students who withdraw from the Ph.D. program may be eligible to receive the M.A. degree if they have met the requirements and have not already received the M.Phil. degree. For the M.A., students must successfully complete at least eight term graduate courses in the Department of Economics. At least six of these courses must be Ph.D. courses in the Department of Economics (not courses from the International and Development Economics master’s program). The average grade of all the graduate courses taken that are listed or cross-listed by the Department of Economics must be at least a High Pass, and at least two of these grades must be Honors. Students must complete at least two of the three first-year two-course sequences in microeconomics, macroeconomics, or econometrics. In computing the grade average, the relevant grades are those reported to the registrar and so do not include pluses or minuses. A Fail counts as a zero, a Pass counts as a 1, a High Pass counts as a 2, and an Honors counts as a 3. To say that the average grade must be High Pass means that the arithmetic average of these numbers must be at least 2. Candidates in combined programs will be awarded the M.A. only when the master’s degree requirements for both programs have been met.

J.D./M.A. Degree Program  Students working toward a J.D. in the Law School may earn an M.A. degree in Economics. The degree requirements that apply to these students are the same as those described above. Students wishing to join this J.D./M.A. joint-degree program must apply for separate admission to the Economics graduate program; applicants should submit scores from the GRE General Test. Students admitted to this program pay three years of tuition to the Law School and one year of tuition to the graduate school . The graduate school does not offer fellowship support to J.D./M.A. candidates.

The M.A. in International and Development Economics is described under International and Development Economics .

ECON 500a, General Economic Theory: Microeconomics   Eduardo Davila

Introduction to optimization methods and partial equilibrium. Theories of utility and consumer behavior production and firm behavior. Introduction to uncertainty and the economics of information, and to noncompetitive market structures. TTh 8:30am-9:50am

ECON 510a, General Economic Theory: Macroeconomics   Fabrizio Zilibotti

Analysis of short-run determination of aggregate employment, income, prices, and interest rates in closed and open economies. Stabilization policies. TTh 10am-11:15am

ECON 520a, Advanced Microeconomic Theory I   Mira Frick

A formal introduction to game theory and information economics. Alternative non-cooperative solution concepts are studied and applied to problems in oligopoly, bargaining, auctions, strategic social choice, and repeated games. F 9:30am-12:30pm

ECON 522a, Microeconomic Theory Lunch   Staff

A forum for advanced students to critically examine recent papers in the literature and present their own work. T 12pm-1pm

ECON 525a, Advanced Macroeconomics I   Zhen Huo and Ilse Lindenlaub

Heterogeneous agent economics, investment, scrapping and firing, nonquadratic adjustment costs, financial constraints, financial intermediation, psychology of decision making under risk, optimal risk management, financial markets, consumption behavior, monetary policy, term structure of interest rates. MW 1pm-2:30pm

ECON 538a, Microeconomic Theory Workshop   Staff

Presentations by research scholars and participating students. W 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 540a, Student Workshop in Macroeconomics   Staff

A course that gives third- and fourth-year students doing research in macroeconomics an opportunity to prepare their prospectuses and to present their dissertation work. Each student is required to make at least two presentations per term. For third-year students and beyond, at least one of the presentations in the first term should be a mock job talk. Th 12pm-1pm

ECON 542a, Macroeconomics Workshop   Staff

A forum for presentation and discussion of state-of-the-art research in macroeconomics. Presentations by research scholars and participating students of papers in closed economy and open economy macroeconomics and monetary economics. T 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 545a, Microeconomics   Michael Boozer

A survey of the main features of current economic analysis and of the application of the theory to a number of important economic questions, covering microeconomics and demand theory, the theory of the firm, and market structures. For IDE students. MW 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 546a, Growth and Macroeconomics   Ana Fieler

This course presents a basic framework to understand macroeconomic behavior and the effects of macroeconomic policies. Topics include consumption and investment, labor market, short-run income determinations, unemployment, inflation, growth, and the effects of monetary and fiscal policies. The emphasis is on the relation between the underlying assumptions of macroeconomic framework and policy implications derived from it. TTh 9am-10:15am

ECON 550a, Econometrics I   Donald Andrews

Probability: concepts and axiomatic development. Data: tools of descriptive statistics and data reduction. Random variables and probability distributions; univariate distributions (continuous and discrete); multivariate distributions; functions of random variables and transformations; the notion of statistical inference; sampling concepts and distributions; asymptotic theory; point and interval estimation; hypothesis testing. MW 8:30am-9:50am

ECON 556a, Topics in Empirical Economics and Public Policy   Yusuke Narita, Charles Hodgson, and Max Cytrynbaum

Methods and approaches to empirical economic analysis are reviewed, illustrated, and discussed with reference to specific empirical studies. The emphasis is on learning to use methods and on understanding how specific empirical questions determine the empirical approach to be used. We review a broad range of approaches including program evaluation methods and structural modeling, including estimation approaches, computational issues, and problems with inference. Open only to doctoral students in the Department of Economics. Exceptionally, doctoral students from other departments may take the course for credit if a faculty member, normally from their department, can supervise and grade their term paper. MW 10am-11:20am

ECON 558a, Econometrics   Michael Boozer

Application of statistical analysis to economic data. Basic probability theory, linear regression, specification and estimation of economic models, time series analysis, and forecasting. The computer is used. For IDE students. TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 568a, Econometrics Workshop   Staff

A forum for state-of-the-art research in econometrics. Its primary purpose is to disseminate the results and the technical machinery of ongoing research in theoretical and applied fields. M 2:30pm-3:30pm

ECON 570a, Prospectus Workshop in Econometrics   Staff

A course for third- and fourth-year students doing research in econometrics to prepare their prospectus and present dissertation work. M 12pm-1pm

ECON 588a and ECON 589a, Economic History Workshop   Staff

A forum for discussion and criticism of research in progress. Presenters include graduate students, Yale faculty, and visitors. Topics concerned with long-run trends in economic organization are suitable for the seminar. Special emphasis given to the use of statistics and of economic theory in historical research. Th 12pm-1pm

ECON 600a, Industrial Organization I   Philip Haile and Charles Hodgson

Begins by locating the study of industrial organization within the broader research traditions of economics and related social sciences. Alternative theories of decision making, of organizational behavior, and of market evolution are sketched and contrasted with standard neoclassical theories. Detailed examination of the determinants and consequences of industrial market structure. TTh 9am-10:20am

ECON 606a, Prospectus Workshop in Industrial Organization   Staff

For third-year students in microeconomics, intended to guide students in the early stages of theoretical and empirical dissertation research. Emphasis on regular writing assignments and oral presentations. Th 12pm-1pm

ECON 608a, Industrial Organization Seminar   Staff

For advanced graduate students in applied microeconomics, serving as a forum for presentation and discussion of work in progress of students, Yale faculty members, and invited speakers. T 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 630a, Labor Economics   Costas Meghir

Topics include static and dynamic approaches to demand, human capital and wage determination, wage income inequality, unemployment and minimum wages, matching and job turnover, immigration and international trade, unions, implicit contract theory, and efficiency wage hypothesis. TTh 10:30am-11:50am

ECON 638a, Labor and Population Workshop   Staff

A forum primarily for graduate students to present their research plans and findings. Discussions encompass empirical microeconomic research relating to both high- and low-income countries. Th 3pm-4:30pm

ECON 640a, Prospectus Workshop in Labor Economics and Public Finance   Staff

Workshop for students doing research in labor economics and public finance. T 12pm-1pm

ECON 678a / MGMT 762a, Macro Finance   Alp Simsek

T 4:10pm-7:10pm

ECON 679a, Financial Economics Student Lunch   Staff

This workshop is for third-year and other advanced students in financial economics. It is intended to guide students in the early stages of dissertation research. The emphasis is on presentation and discussion of materials presented by students that will eventually lead to dissertation topics. Open to third-year and advanced Ph.D. students only. T 11:35am-12:50pm

ECON 680a, Public Finance I   Orazio Attanasio

Major topics in public finance including externalities, public goods, benefit/cost analysis, fiscal federalism, social insurance, retirement savings, poverty and inequality, taxation, and others. Applications are provided to crime, education, environment and energy, health and health insurance, housing, and other markets and domains. The course covers a variety of applied methods including sufficient statistics, randomized control trials, hedonic models, regression discontinuity, discrete choice, spatial equilibrium, dynamic growth models, differences-in-differences, integrated assessment models, applied general equilibrium, event studies, firm production functions, learning models, general method of moments, and propensity-score reweighting estimators. MW 9am-10:15am

ECON 706a, Prospectus Workshop in International and Spatial Economics   Staff

This workshop is for third-year and other advanced students in international economic fields. It is intended to guide students in the early stages of dissertation research. The emphasis is on students’ presentation and discussion of material that will eventually lead to the prospectus. T 12pm-1pm

ECON 720a, International Trade I   Amit Khandelwal and Costas Arkolakis

The first part of this course covers the basic theory of international trade, from neoclassical theory where trade is the result of comparative advantage (Ricardo, Heckscher-Ohlin) to the “New Trade Theory” where trade is generated by imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale. Particular emphasis is placed on the implications of the different theories concerning the aggregate gains or losses from trade and the distributional implications of trade liberalization. The second part of the course explores new advances in the field. It covers the Eaton-Kortum (2002) and Melitz (2003) models; extensions of these models with many countries, multiproduct firms, and sectors; methods of quantitative trade analysis to revisit classic questions (gains from trade, distributional effects of trade, trade policy); and new advances in dynamic trade theory. MW 1:10pm-2:25pm

ECON 724a, International Finance   Ana Fieler

A study of how consumers and firms are affected by the globalization of the world economy. Topics include trade costs, the current account, exchange rate pass-through, international macroeconomic co-movement, multinational production, and gains from globalization.  Prerequisite: intermediate macroeconomics or equivalent. M 4pm-7pm

ECON 728a / MGMT 521a, Workshop: International Trade   Staff

Workshop/seminar for presentations and discussion on topics in the field of international trade. W 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 730a, Economic Development I   Mark Rosenzweig and Kaivan Munshi

Development theory at both aggregate and sectoral levels; analysis of growth, employment, poverty, and distribution of income in both closed and open developing economy contexts. W 4pm-6:30pm

ECON 733a, Urban and Environmental Economics   Costas Arkolakis and Mushfiq Mobarak

A Ph.D. field course covering latest research topics in urban economics and in environmental and energy economics. Topics include the links between urban planning and city productivity and livability, infrastructure investments in electrification and water management, managing externalities, environmental regulation, and the effects of climate change in cities and in rural areas. Prerequisites: first-year Ph.D. economics courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics (or equivalent), or instructor permission. MW 9am-10:20am

ECON 750a, Trade and Development Workshop   Staff

A forum for graduate students and faculty with an interest in the economic problems of developing countries. Faculty, students, and a limited number of outside speakers discuss research in progress. M 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 756a, Prospectus Workshop in Development   Staff

Workshop for students doing research in development to present and discuss work. M 12pm-1pm

ECON 899a, Individual Reading and Research   Staff

By arrangement with faculty. HTBA

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Application Management

• Guidance for International Students
• PhD/Master's Application Process

If you are an international applicant to a PhD or Master's degree program, you have the same general requirements as all other applicants.

Note: Applicants to a non-degree program, including Exchange Scholars , Visiting Assistants in Research , and Visiting Students , should visit the relevant page for information about admission to those programs.

Bachelor's Degree or International Equivalent

All entering students must have earned a bachelor's degree or its international equivalent prior to enrolling at the Graduate School. You may submit an application before receiving your degree, or while your degree is still in progress, as long as the degree will be completed prior to matriculation.

Some countries grant an undergraduate or bachelor's-equivalent degree in three years. In such cases, completion of a three-year degree will meet the application requirement.

English Language Testing (TOEFL/IELTS)

TOEFL or IELTS is required of almost all applicants whose native language is not English.

If you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, you are exempt from the English Language Test requirement and are not required to submit the TOEFL or IELTS. You must have studied in residence at the undergraduate institution for at least three years to qualify. No exemptions are made on the basis of an advanced degree (e.g., MA/MS or PhD) from any institution. For more information, please see Standardized Test Requirements .

Although the Graduate School does not have test minimums for admission, individual departments may have a minimum requirement and will use these scores when they review your application. Please check with the department or program to which you are applying to see if it has a minimum requirement. The Graduate School requires incoming doctoral students who received a score of 25 or below on the TOEFL Speaking section or a 7.5 or below on the IELTS Speaking section to participate in a Summer English Language program at Yale in August prior to matriculation. These students are required to demonstrate English proficiency before they are permitted to teach.

Entry Term/Intake

All PhD and Master's students begin their studies at Yale in the fall term. No spring term entry is permitted. Application for admission to any of the Graduate School's programs begins in the summer or fall of the academic year prior to the one in which you propose to matriculate. Please submit your application by the program deadline .

Visa Questions and Processing

The Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) serves as the immigration adviser for all entering international students and their accompanying family members. Beginning in March, OISS will contact you with the necessary visa and immigration information if you have accepted Yale's offer of admission.

GPA and GPA Conversion

You may self-report a GPA and GPA scale in the “Academic History” section of the application. Please do not convert or recalculate your GPA. If your college or university does not report or compute a GPA, you should omit it.

Translations

All academic records and letters of recommendation uploaded to your application must be in English or accompanied by an English translation.

Fee Waivers

International students are eligible to request a fee waiver .

• Doctoral Programs

Financial economics encompasses a broad area of topics and issues, including corporate investments and financing policy, security valuation, portfolio management, the behavior of prices in speculative markets, financial institutions, and intermediation.

The PhD specialization in finance is designed to give the student a strong background for study and research in both theoretical and empirical work in finance and related areas. Emphasis is placed on understanding the important concepts and models. Students normally take several graduate courses in the Department of Economics, particularly in microeconomics and macroeconomic theory, the economics of uncertainty, and econometrics.

The program offers two courses specifically in financial theory and its applications. In addition, the faculty and doctoral students attend a seminar that features speakers from around the country. However, the specialization is built primarily around individual study and research under the guidance of the faculty.

Examples of potential areas of research for the financial economics dissertation:

• Principal-agent relationships
• Financial intermediation
• Efficiency of markets
• Portfolio selection

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Yale has announced a new testing policy for first-year and transfer applicants for fall 2025 admission.  Read the announcement  and review the policy . 

Applying to Yale as an International Student

Students applying from abroad follow the same procedure and have essentially the same application requirements as all other students.

For a list of these requirements and instructions visit Application Instructions & Components . Since some of these requirements may be unfamiliar to international students, additional information is provided here.

All applicants for first-year admission must submit one of the following:

• The Coalition Application with Yale-Specific Questions
• The Common Application with Yale-Specific Questions
• The QuestBridge National College Match Application

Yale will accept any one of these applications, without preference for one over another. Students should submit one—and only one—application per admissions cycle.

Additional requirements for all first-year applicants:

$80 application fee or fee waiver, recommendations from two teachers and one counselor, school report with transcript.

• Standardized test results (ACT, AP, IB, or SAT) ( See below)
• English proficiency test results - required for non-native English-speakers (See below)

Mid-Year Report & Final Report

See additional details about these required application components below. 

Please note that if your application materials include any documents that are not in English, you must provide an official English translation in addition to the original documents.

Additional Information

• Application Deadlines
• Application Acknowledgment, Checklist, and Admissions Decisions  
• Single-Choice Early Action
• Supplementary Materials
• Sending Application Materials
• Interviews for International Applicants
• Financial Aid for International Applicants

Applicants should pay the $80 application fee via the Common Application or Coalition Application website.

Applicants using the Common Application or Coalition Application may request that the application fee be waived.  Learn more on the fee waiver page.  The fee waiver scale is based on family size and income in US dollars but is applicable to all international students.

Request recommendations from two teachers who have taught you in core academic subjects (e.g. English, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies) who know you well, and who have seen you at your best. It is preferable, but not required, that recommendations come from teachers who have taught you during your final or next-to-final year of secondary school.

Also request a recommendation from your school’s college counselor. If your counselor does not know you well, the recommendation may still provide helpful contextual information about your school and its academic programs. If your school does not have someone serving as a college counselor, please request a recommendation from a school administrator such as a house master, principal, or academic advisor. 

Your counselor or other school official should submit a School Report with an official transcript that includes all your secondary school courses. If a question on the School Report form is not applicable to your secondary school, leave it blank. 

Recommendations and transcripts should be submitted electronically through the Common Application or Coalition Application website. If necessary, teachers and counselors may also submit their recommendations and transcripts via mail  or digital upload . Recommendations may be sent before or after you submit your application; materials that arrive before your application will be kept on file. The admissions office will make reasonable allowances for late school documents in situations where it is not possible for teachers and counselors to meet the application deadlines.

School Report forms and transcripts must be submitted directly from an applicant’s school. Educational support program counselors (such as EducationUSA advisors and others) may provide supplemental recommendations, and they and may be able to advise school officials on compiling documents, but only school officials should submit required application materials. 

Standardized test results: ACT, AP, IB, or SAT

More information on Yale’s test policies is available on the standardized testing page . Standardized tests are just one component of a student’s application and are viewed within the context of the student’s entire file. There is no minimum score required for admission, nor is there a score that will guarantee admission.

English proficiency exams

Yale requires that non-native English-speakers who have not taken at least two years of secondary education where English is the medium of instruction submit the results from any of the proficiency tests listed below.

TOEFL   Test of English as a Foreign Language

The TOEFL requires pre-registration for available testing dates. Yale’s most competitive applicants have scores of at least 100 on the internet-based TOEFL.

IELTS   International English Language Testing System

The IELTS offers proficiency tests in locations around the world. Pre-registration is required. Yale’s most competitive applicants have IELTS scores of 7 or higher.

Cambridge English Qualifications

Cambridge English exams are available at testing locations around the world. Pre-registration is required. Yale’s most competitive applicants have Cambridge English scores of 185 or higher on the C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency, or B2 First exams.

DET   Duolingo English Test

Applicants may submit the Duolingo English Test (DET), which combines an English proficiency test with a brief video interview. Duolingo’s technology and format allows applicants to complete the test at any time or place with internet access. Yale’s most competitive applicants have DET scores of at least 120.

InitialView   InitialView

InitialView provides live, unscripted video interviews that candidates may submit to colleges for consideration with other application materials. Interview times must be reserved in advance. There is no scoring associated with these interviews.

Students who do not receive new secondary school grades by February 1, including students who have already completed secondary school, are not required to submit a Mid-Year Report. This includes many international students. Applicants who receive new grades by February 1 should submit a Mid-Year Report.

Only admitted students are required to submit the Final Report, which provides final secondary school grades and examination marks. Admitted students submit the Final Report in the summer before fall matriculation.

If your secondary school provides predicted results for external exams such as A-levels, the International Baccalaureate, and other international or national testing organizations, they should be submitted by your school alongside your transcript or Mid-Year Report.

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The Department of Economics Welcomes New Faculty for Fall 2024

The Department of Economics is excited to welcome five new professors to its faculty this fall, and one new Postdoctoral Associate who will later join as a faculty member.

These esteemed scholars bring a wealth of expertise and diverse perspectives that will create exciting new research opportunities within the Department, enrich our teaching curriculum, and contribute to the vibrant Yale economics community. We are thrilled to have them join our faculty!

The new faculty members are Professor Timothy Christensen , an econometrician, Assistant Professor Mayara Felix , a trade and development economist, Assistant Professor Joel Flynn , a macroeconomist and economic theorist, Associate Professor Elliot Lipnowski , an economic theorist, and Associate Professor Pascual Restrepo , a macroeconomist and labor economist. We also welcome Cody Cook , a labor and public economist, who will serve as a Cowles Foundation Postdoctoral Associate this year and then join the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the 2025-26 academic year. You can read more about their backgrounds and research below.

Looking forward, Bentley MacLeod , a labor economist, will join as a Visiting Professor and Senior Research Scientist, starting in Spring 2025. Finally, starting in the 2025-26 academic year, we are also excited to welcome Janet Currie , a renowned public economist, to our faculty.

Timothy Christensen

Timothy Christensen joins the Department as a Professor of Economics. Before joining Yale, he was a Professor of Economics at University College London. He received a PhD in Economics from Yale in 2014. His research interests lie broadly across theoretical and applied econometrics, financial econometrics, and statistics/data science. His most recent research is at the intersection of econometrics and machine learning, where he works on the integration of unstructured data into quantitative economic modeling. He has been awarded grants by the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council.

Mayara Felix

Mayara Felix joins the Department as an Assistant Professor, after completing the 2023-2024 year as a Cowles Foundation Postdoctoral Associate. Her research is in the fields of development and international trade. She studies policies intended to improve market efficiency, such as import tariff reductions, free trade agreements, and outsourcing. A special focus of her research is firms’ responses to these policies and their implications to competition, either in labor or product markets. She thus often borrows methods and insights from the fields of labor, public, and industrial organization. Mayara received a PhD in Economics from MIT in June 2021.

Joel Flynn joins the Department as an Assistant Professor, after completing the 2023-24 year as a Cowles Foundation Postdoctoral Associate. His research is in macroeconomics and economic theory with an emphasis on business cycles and mechanism design. He has recently studied how economic uncertainty affects the transmission of monetary policy and how viral economic narratives cause macroeconomic boom-bust cycles. His mechanism design research has focused on the optimal design of two-sided matching markets and optimal contracting when contracts are incomplete. Joel graduated from MIT with a PhD in Economics in June 2023.

Elliot Lipnowski

Elliot Lipnowski joins the Department as an Associate Professor, studying microeconomic theory. His interests include information design, mechanism design, dynamic games, organizational economics, and strategic uncertainty. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo and his PhD at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Before joining Yale, he was a faculty member at the University of Chicago and at Columbia University. He currently serves as an associate editor at Theoretical Economics and at Econometrica .

Pascual Restrepo

Pascual Restrepo joins the Department as an Associate Professor. Prior to Yale, Restrepo was a Professor at Boston University. He completed a PhD in Economics at MIT and a Postdoc at the Cowles Foundation at Yale. His research explores the implications of technological change for inequality and productivity. His most recent work studies the development and adoption of new automation technologies and how they have affected the economy, firms, and labor markets.

Cody Cook joins the Department as a Cowles Postdoctoral Associate before joining as an Assistant Professor in July 2025. He is an economist who works at the intersection of public, urban, and labor economics, often focusing on the design and evaluation of policies affecting inequality in cities. His research combines large-scale datasets with tools adapted from industrial organization. Some of his recent work has studied the tradeoffs of building affordable housing in different types of neighborhoods, the distributional effects of congestion pricing, and how preferences for neighborhood amenities vary by household income. He holds a PhD from Stanford GSB.

How to Apply

The annual application deadline for the Graduate Program in Anthropology is December 15th. To apply, please use the application system available at the GSAS admissions web page .

Graduate applicants should provide one writing sample with their application.  Please limit samples to no more than 40 pages, double spaced.