Graduate Programs
Master of Science (MS) Economics program
About the Program:
The MS Economics program is designed to provide a solid background in theory, quantitative methods and applications appropriate to the needs of economists involved in policy planning, analysis and forecasting of public and private sectors. The curriculum of this program has been designed to meet international standards.
This program emphasizes on applied economics and caters to the growing market for economic analysts. Graduates from this program will be able to teach and conduct quality research in the fields of their interest and will be prepared for careers in universities, research organizations, business enterprises, government organizations, and multinational companies.
Eligibility
A minimum of 16-years of education out of which the last 4 years of education should be from an HEC recognized university/institute, with a minimum CGPA of 2.5 out of 4.0 or 60% marks in the last degree. All equivalency claims shall be evaluated by HEC. Experience is not a mandatory requirement for admission in this program.
Admission criteria
Admissions to all programs at the IBA are granted on merit, and there are no reserved seats of any category. The criterion for admission is the performance of the applicant in aptitude test and interview. The aptitude test is a written test on three subjects: English, Mathematics and Economics.
Candidates who have a minimum score of 650 in the quantitative section of GRE (International) or a score of 160 in quantitative & 150 of verbal section of revised GRE (International) are exempted from the IBA admission test. The candidates who pass the aptitude test qualify for the interview.
Duration:
2 years
Maximum time allowed:
- 4 years for full time students
- 7 years for part time students
Class Timings:
MS Economics is offered for full-time students as well as for part-time students. Classes in MS Economics are scheduled only in evenings (6:00-9:00 pm) on weekdays or any time (between 9:00 am - 9:00 pm) on Saturdays.
Teaching/research assistant positions
Teaching/research assistant positions are available in the department for full time MS students. These positions are offered only to those students who maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 in each semester in the MS program. Teaching/research assistants must not work elsewhere.
Requirements for MS Economics
Course requirements are given as:
MS courses: 30
credit hours
MS thesis: 6 credit hours
Required courses
| Course category | Courses |
Credit hours |
Core courses |
6 |
18 |
Elective courses |
2 |
6 |
Thesis |
1 |
6 |
Total |
9 |
30 |
Foundation/Refresher courses in summer semester
Two foundation/refresher courses of 3 credit hours each will be offered during summer semester. BS Economics and BS Economics & Mathematics graduates from IBA are exempted from the 2 foundation courses. For other candidates, the admission interview panel will decide which foundation courses are exempted.
| S. No. | Courses | Credit Hours |
| 1. | Economics |
3 |
| 2. | Mathematics and statistics |
3 |
Semester-wise MS Economics Courses
| S. No. | Courses | Credit hours |
| Fall semester | ||
| 1 | Advanced Microeconomics | 3 |
| 2 | Advanced Macroeconomics | 3 |
| 3 | Econometrics I | 3 |
| 4 | Elective I | 3 |
| Spring semester | ||
| 5 | Econometrics II | 3 |
| 6 | Research Methodology | 3 |
| 7 | Development Economics | 3 |
| 8 | Elective II | 3 |
| Fall/Spring semester | ||
| 9 | MS Thesis* | 6 |
*Students have option to take 1 additional elective course and an MS research project (ECO698) in place of MS thesis. The grade on MS thesis and MS research project would be pass/fail and will not be counted in the CGPA.
List of elective courses
Course title |
Course code |
Credit hours |
Combinatorial Optimization |
CSE654 |
3 |
International Trade |
ECO539 |
3 |
Issues in Pakistan Economy |
ECO544 |
3 |
Climate Change Economics |
ECO551 |
3 |
Behavioural Economics |
ECO554 |
3 |
Economic Forecasting |
ECO555 |
3 |
Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice |
ECO560 |
3 |
Environmental and Resource Economics |
ECO561 |
3 |
Financial Economics |
ECO562 |
3 |
Health Economics |
ECO563 |
3 |
History of Economic Thought |
ECO564 |
3 |
Monetary Economics |
ECO566 |
3 |
Public Economics |
ECO567 |
3 |
Time Series Modelling |
ECO570 |
3 |
Industrial Economics |
ECO571 |
3 |
Game theory and Competitive Strategy |
ECO573 |
3 |
Water Economics and Policy |
ECO574 |
3 |
Microeconomics of Public Policy Analysis |
ECO575 |
3 |
Social Impact Evaluation |
ECO577 |
3 |
Behavioural and Experimental Economics |
ECO578 |
3 |
Labour Economics |
ECO654 |
3 |
| Machine Learning Methods | ECO580 |
3 |
| Institutional Economics | ECO559 |
3 |