Finance and Business Economics Ph.D. Program

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

At USC the Finance and Business Economics faculty (which includes the Marshall School real estate faculty) is actively engaged in research in such diverse areas as the pricing and valuation of securities, the economics of financial markets, the structure and financial decision-making of firms and financial intermediaries, international economics and finance, macroeconomics, industrial organization and regulation, real estate finance, and urban economics.

The purpose of the doctoral program is to educate students in the concepts and analytical techniques needed to understand, and advance knowledge in, finance and business economics. This training usually leads to academic careers at other major business schools. The coursework, normally completed in two years, is designed to equip the students with quantitative skills and a knowledge of theoretical models and empirical research so that they can initiate, pursue and complete dissertation research under faculty guidance. Students are required to specialize their studies by taking relevant courses in, for example, the Economics and Mathematics departments or the Law School. In addition to the basic discipline requirements, students are required to take doctoral courses in microeconomic theory, portfolio theory, corporate finance, and empirical methods in finance.

The program seeks to balance the need for a solid foundation in economics and statistics with the desire of students to specialize their training. To this end, the program requires that students complete 16 courses during their first two years. These courses are divided into three categories: foundational MBA courses (FBE 555 and FBE 531), core courses in finance, economics and statistics (ECON 500, ECON 503, ECON 511, FBE 652, FBE 653, FBE 654, GSBA 603), and electives. (Students are expected to take seven electives, four of which must take the form of two separate 2-course related sequences such as ECON 505 and ECON 605. The other three electives need not be part of any sequence.)

Besides formal coursework, workshops run by the department allow doctoral students to remain abreast of current research by USC faculty and outside scholars. Currently there are workshops in financial economics, macro and international economics, applied microeconomics and regulation, and real estate (through the Lusk Center joint with the School of Policy, Planning and Development). Students are expected to participate in and benefit from them.

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