Financial economics encompasses a broad area of topics and issues, including corporate investments and financing policy, security valuation, portfolio management, the behavior of prices in speculative markets, financial institutions, and intermediation.
The PhD specialization in finance is designed to give the student a strong background for study and research in both theoretical and empirical work in finance and related areas. Emphasis is placed on understanding the important concepts and models. Students normally take several graduate courses in the Department of Economics, particularly in microeconomics and macroeconomic theory, the economics of uncertainty, and econometrics.
The program offers two courses specifically in financial theory and its applications. In addition, the faculty and doctoral students attend a seminar that features speakers from around the country. However, the specialization is built primarily around individual study and research under the guidance of the faculty.
Examples of potential areas of research for the financial economics dissertation:
- Principal-agent relationships
- Financial intermediation
- Efficiency of markets
- Portfolio selection