phd economic policy

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PhD Program

Wharton’s highly selective Ph.D. program in Applied Economics offers students many resources not available at other institutions, such as a 1:1 faculty to student ratio and an up-front guarantee of five years of funding with minimal teaching requirements. Combining the faculties of the departments of Real Estate and Business Economics & Public Policy, Wharton’s Applied Economics program leverages the breadth and depth of its faculty to prepare students for careers doing frontier theoretical and empirical research. Students can focus on a variety of areas including Behavioral Economics, Development Economics, Energy and Environmental Economics, Industrial Organization, Market Design, Public Economics, Risk Management, and Urban Economics and Real Estate. Students may also develop an inter-disciplinary focus by taking courses and working with faculty in some of the other departments at Wharton such as Finance, Health Care Management, Management, and Marketing.

All admitted students are granted a fellowship, including tuition, fees, and stipend.  Details about the application process, deadlines and requirements are available here

Program Requirements

Prospective students interested in pursuing a degree in Applied Economics  must apply for admission to the Wharton Doctoral Programs in Applied Economics.

Applicants may, if they wish, indicate a preferred field of study in their application. All applicants must provide valid test scores — the Applied Economics program accepts only the GRE. We do not require a minimum GRE score, however math scores among students admitted in the last few years were all above the 90 th percentile. In making our decision, we look at your GRE scores as well as the rest of your application: grades, coursework, work and research experience, essays, and recommendation.

We recommend at least three courses in mathematics, such as calculus, linear algebra, and real analysis, and at least three courses in statistics/econometrics. We prefer an economics undergraduate degree along with the math requirements noted above or a math/statistics degree with several courses in economics (at least up through intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics).

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PhD in Political Economy & Government

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Beginning in Fall 2022, the PhD in Political Economy and Government (PEG) will no longer be admitting students.  Students may apply to the PhD program in Public Policy (PPOL) , or consider the PhD Programs in the Economics Department or the PhD Program in Government . 

The PEG program will continue with the outlined course requirements for students who matriculated in Fall 2021. HKS will continue to fully fund and support all current PEG students until they have completed the program and graduated. However, going forward, prospective students will no longer be able to apply to or be admitted to the PEG program.

As of Fall 2021, prospective students interested in focusing on an economics or political science perspective of political economy are encouraged to apply to the PhD programs offered by the Department of Economics and the Department of Government at the  Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or the newly created PhD program in Public Policy (PPOL) tracks: Economics and Politics and Institutions (Political Science) . 

History of the PhD in Political Economy and Government

Dating to the 1930s, the PhD Program in Political Economy and Government (PEG) was initiated with the objective of fostering research at the intersection of Economics and Political Science. A collaborative program between Harvard Kennedy School, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Government, PEG emphasized positive—as opposed to normative—political economy. The PEG program combines rigorous training in economics, formal theory, and quantitative empirical methods with a substantive focus on the interaction between economic and political institutions and processes. Students combine coursework from the Department of Economics  and the Department of Government for an interdisciplinary program of study.

Students and faculty members in the PEG program share an intellectual interest in the impact of politics on economic processes and outcomes, and the reciprocal influence of economic conditions on political life. It covers research areas as diverse as international economic relations, financial economics, political development, political and economic institutions, institutional transition and reform, the economic importance of culture, economic performance, environmental resource policies, and social policy.

Doctoral Program Admissions

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The Ph.D. Program in the Department of Economics at Harvard is addressed to students of high promise who wish to prepare themselves in teaching and research in academia or for responsible positions in government, research organizations, or business enterprises. Students are expected to devote themselves full-time to their programs of study.

The program prepares students for productive and stimulating careers as economists. Courses and seminars offered by the department foster an intellectually active and stimulating environment. Each week, the department sponsors more than 15 different seminars on such topics as environmental economics, economic growth and development, monetary and fiscal policy, international economics, industrial organization, law and economics, behavioral economics, labor economics, and economic history. Top scholars from both domestic and international communities are often invited speakers at the seminars.  The Harvard community outside of the department functions as a strong and diverse resource. Students in the department are free to pursue research interests with scholars throughout the University. Faculty of the Harvard Law School, Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Business School, for example, are available to students for consultation, instruction, and research guidance. As a member of the Harvard community, students in the department can register for courses in the various schools and have access to the enormous library resources available through the University. There are over 90 separate library units at Harvard, with the total collections of books and pamphlets numbering over 13 million.  Both the department and the wider University draw some of the brightest students from around the world, which makes for a student body that is culturally diverse and likely unequaled in the range of intellectual interests of its members. These factors combine to add an important dimension to the educational process. Students are able to learn from one another, collaborate on research projects and publications, and form bonds that are not broken by distance once the degree is completed and professional responsibilities lead them in different directions.

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