POSTGRADUATE
PhD Economics Program

PhD Economics Program

Duration

Duration of the program is 4 years. The maximum time allowed is 8 years.

Eligibility

MS / M.Phil. or equivalent degree in Economics or related discipline from HEC recognized universities/institute with minimum 3 out of 4 CGPA or 60% marks in the last degree. All equivalency claims shall be evaluated by HEC. Experience is not mandatory for admission to the PhD program. IBA allows those candidates to apply for admission whose final results have not been announced. The admission may be conditional pending submission of the required results before the date of commencement of classes.

Admission criteria

Admissions to all programs at the IBA are granted on merit, and there are no reserved seats for any category. The criterion for admission is:
IBA will offer three options for admission in economics department:

1. International GRE (60% marks required for eligibility)
2. HEC organized GAT/NTS test (60% marks required for eligibility)
3. IBA’s own conducted test (60% marks required for eligibility.

The candidates who pass the admission test qualify for the interview. Candidates are required to submit a short research proposal at the time of interview as well along with two recommendation letters.

Comprehensive Examination

Comprehensive exam will consist of microeconomics and macroeconomics. In case of failing in one part of exam candidate will give the complete exam again. Students will be allowed for two attempts for qualifying exam. Students are required to complete their course work and pass the comprehensive exams within two years from the commencement of the PhD program.

Oral defense of dissertation proposal

A student must clear the Ph.D. dissertation proposal defense within one year of comprehensive exam, he / she may make as many attempts as the supervisory committee (Doctoral Guidance Committee (DGC)) allows, provided the student doesn't exceed the time bar; else he/she is dropped out of the program.

Teaching/research assistant positions:

Ph.D. program is a full time morning program. IBA will offer Teaching/research assistant positions to Ph.D. students along with a tuition fee waiver. Teaching/research assistants must not work elsewhere. A Ph.D. student has to spend at least the first two years of degree's duration in IBA as a full-time student. The provision of stipend will be conditional on satisfactory performance of students.

Major Areas of Specializations:

a. Macroeconomic modeling and policy analysis
b. Labor Economics
c. Development Economics
d. Environmental Economics
e. Environment and Climate Change
f. Financial Economics
g. Industrial Organization
h. Monetary Economics
i. Public Finance
j. Behavioral and Experimental Economics
k. International Finance
l. International Trade

For further details, visit: www.economics.iba.edu.pk

List of core and elective courses

Fall Semester

Course title	Course code	Credit hours	Pre-requisite
Topics in Microeconomic Theory	ECO644	4	-
Topics in Macroeconomic Theory	ECO645	4	-
Econometric Analysis	ECO646	4	-

Spring Semester

Course title	Course code	Credit hours	Pre-requisite
Topics in Research Methods	ECO650	4	-
Elective I	-	4	-
Elective II	-	4	-

Dissertation

Course title	Course code	Credit hours	Pre-requisite
PhD Dissertation	ECO799	24	-