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The program can be distinguished from the Harvard PhD in economics by its greater emphasis on business fields and its focus on the use of economic analysis and statistical methods in dealing effectively with manage­ment problems in these applied business fields. 

Admission

Successful candidates have strong records of academic performance in rigorous programs and exemplary GRE General Test or GMAT scores, especially in the quantitative area. Please note that, when possible, the GMAT is preferred. They are not required to hold a degree in economics, though prior coursework is strongly recommended. Furthermore, they generally have an effective working knowledge of college-level calculus and linear algebra.

Non-native English speakers must take the TOEFL, unless they have obtained a degree from an institution in which English is the language of instruction. The committee prefers scores of at least 600 and 260 on the paper-based and the computer-based tests, respectively.

Further information about the program is available on the Harvard Business School Website. Applica­tions for admission may be obtained from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Admis­sions Office or completed online.

Questions regarding the program should be directed to:

Financial Aid

All incoming students receive a merit-based award, regardless of need. This includes a fellowship for tuition and health fees, as well as a stipend for living expenses ($32,400 in 2007-2008).

Program

During the first year, students take courses in graduate economic theory (i.e., micro­economics, general equilibrium, and macro­economics) to prepare for the written General Examination. All courses should be completed with a grade of B or better. Most students take an advanced course in statistics and a basic graduate course in econometrics. This is the same first-year program that would be undertaken by a candidate for the PhD in economics.

To complete the PhD in business economics, students must fulfill the following requirements:

• Courses in economic theory

• Five MBA courses for students without an MBA degree

• Courses in quantitative methods

• Written General Examination in economic theory

• Oral special field examination

• Dissertation

Students may specialize in fields such as: capital markets and financial institutions, corporate finance, corporate governance, competition and strategy, accounting and control, international business, produc­tion and innovation, negotiation and decision-making, game theory, organizational economics, business organization, marketing, transportation and logistics, agribusiness, and business and economic development.

Each field is conceived as a synthesis of some field or area in business administration with those areas of economics that contribute appropriate theoretical and methodological tools. Each student takes an active role in selecting and defining the combination of subjects that make up the special field. 

Selected PhD Dissertation Titles

“Behavioral Approaches to Contract Theory and Corporate Finance”

“Innovation and Knowledge Diffusion in the Global Economy”

“Signaling Effects of Strategic Alliances on Small Partners”

“The Organization of Productive Activities in Developing Countries: The Role of Business Groups”

“Essays on the Economics of Multinational Enterprises” “Learning How to Invest When Returns Are Uncertain”

Faculty

Business Economics faculty members come from both the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Harvard Business School. They include, but are not limited to:

Jerry R. Green, Chair, John Leverett Professor in the University; David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy. Microeconomic theory.

Bharat Anand, Professor of Business Administra­tion. Applied and empirical industrial organi­zation and corporate strategy.

Nava Ashraf, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Decision making, economic development, and field experiments.

George P. Baker III, Herman C. Krannert Professor of Business Administration. Manage­ment incentives, leveraged buyouts, organiza­tional economics, and relationships between firm’s ownership structure and its management.

Malcolm Baker, Professor of Business Admin­istration. Interaction between corporate financing decisions and market efficiency.

Carliss Y. Baldwin, William L. White Professor of Business Administration. Finance and organi­zational economics.

John Y. Campbell, Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics. Stock prices, term structure of interest rates, and aggregate consumption in relation to economic fluctua­tions.

Randolph B. Cohen, Associate Professor of Business Administration. Investments, effect of executive compensation on stock returns and volatility, and market microstructure.

Peter Coles, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Auctions, experimental economics, and market design.

C. Fritz Foley, Associate Professor of Busi­ness Administration. International corporate finance.

Kenneth A. Froot, Andre R. Jakurski Professor of Business Administration. International finance, distribution of insurance risk, risk capital, and capital allocation.

Drew Fudenberg, Frederic E. Abbe Professor of Economics. Game theory and microeconomic theory.
Stuart Gilson, Steven R. Fenster Professor of Business Administration. Valuation, corporate finance, and corporate restructuring.

Paul A. Gompers, Eugene Holman Professor of Business Administration. Private equity funds, private firms, and long-run performance evalu­ation for newly public companies.

Brian J. Hall, Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration. Compensation and incentive strategy, corporate gover­nance, corporate finance, and organizational economics.

Oliver S. Hart, Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics. Theory of the firm and contract theory.

Paul M. Healy, James R. Williston Professor of Business Administration. Corporate financial reporting and analysis, and corporate finance.

Dale W. Jorgenson, Samuel W. Morris Univer­sity Professor. Econometrics.

Robert S. Kaplan, Baker Foundation Professor. Link between cost and performance measure­ment systems with strategy implementation and operational excellence.

Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor of Business Administration. Corporate strategy of diversified business groups in emerging economies.

Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Invest­ment Banking. Venture capital, private equity, and intellectual property.

Robert C. Merton, John and Natty McArthur University Professor. Finance.

Julie Mortimer, Associate Professor of Economics. Industrial organization, applied econometrics, and microeconomics.

Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Associate Professor of Business Administration. Strategy.

Ariel Pakes, Steven McArthur Heller Professor of Economics. Industrial organization and econo­metrics.

Krishna G. Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration. Strategy, valuation, and disclosure.

Andre F. Perold, George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking. Risk management and capital allocation.

Jan Rivkin, Professor of Business Administration. Interactions across functional and product boundaries within a firm.

Julio J. Rotemberg, William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration. Sources of economic fluctuations, emphasizing effects of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and oil price changes.

Alvin E. Roth, George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration. Game theory as part of empirical economics and experimental economics theory.

Richard S. Ruback, Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance. Applied corporate finance.

David Scharfstein, Edmund Cogswell Converse Professor of Finance and Banking. Entrepreneurship and venture capital; corpo­rate resource allocation; and financing and management of biotechnology companies.

Andrei Shleifer, Professor of Economics. Applied theory, corporate finance, and economic tran­sition.

Jeremy C. Stein, Moise Y. Safra Professor of Economics. Corporate finance, behavioral finance, money and banking.

Peter Tufano, Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management. Financial innovation and use of financial engineering by corpora­tions.

Luis M. Viceira, Professor of Business Adminis­tration. Investments and asset prices.
Dennis Yao, Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration. Incentive and infor­mation problems affecting firms.