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

  • These two courses will be offered during the summer semester.
  • The student will have to obtain at least 60% marks (Grade-C minus).
  • Admission in MS Economics will be confirmed after passing these courses with at least B- grade.
  • The courses and grades will not be counted in the transcript and CGPA.
  • Students will have to attend the classes with at least 75% attendance to be eligible for appearing in the final exam.
  • Half of full course fee will be charged for each foundation course.

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    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.

    Click here to read the Thesis Process Flow

    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