harvard university economics phd

Business Economics

Jointly administered by HBS and the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, students in the program are both economics and business school students, receiving the benefits of a PhD from Harvard’s world-class Economics Department along with specialized access to HBS faculty and resources.  The program combines theoretical analysis with in-depth, interdisciplinary research rooted in real-world applications.

• Harvard Business School →
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PhD Programs

• Accounting & Management
• Business Economics
• Health Policy (Management)
• Organizational Behavior
• Technology & Operations Management

Students in our PhD programs are encouraged from day one to think of this experience as their first job in business academia—a training ground for a challenging and rewarding career generating rigorous, relevant research that influences practice.

Our doctoral students work with faculty and access resources throughout HBS and Harvard University. The PhD program curriculum requires coursework at HBS and other Harvard discipline departments, and with HBS and Harvard faculty on advisory committees. Faculty throughout Harvard guide the programs through their participation on advisory committees.

How do I know which program is right for me?

There are many paths, but we are one HBS. Our PhD students draw on diverse personal and professional backgrounds to pursue an ever-expanding range of research topics. Explore more here about each program’s requirements & curriculum, read student profiles for each discipline as well as student research , and placement information.

The PhD in Business Administration grounds students in the disciplinary theories and research methods that form the foundation of an academic career. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program has four areas of study: Accounting and Management , Marketing , Strategy , and Technology and Operations Management . All areas of study involve roughly two years of coursework culminating in a field exam. The remaining years of the program are spent conducting independent research, working on co-authored publications, and writing the dissertation. Students join these programs from a wide range of backgrounds, from consulting to engineering. Many applicants possess liberal arts degrees, as there is not a requirement to possess a business degree before joining the program

The PhD in Business Economics provides students the opportunity to study in both Harvard’s world-class Economics Department and Harvard Business School. Throughout the program, coursework includes exploration of microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, probability and statistics, and econometrics. While some students join the Business Economics program directly from undergraduate or masters programs, others have worked in economic consulting firms or as research assistants at universities or intergovernmental organizations.

The PhD program in Health Policy (Management) is rooted in data-driven research on the managerial, operational, and strategic issues facing a wide range of organizations. Coursework includes the study of microeconomic theory, management, research methods, and statistics. The backgrounds of students in this program are quite varied, with some coming from public health or the healthcare industry, while others arrive at the program with a background in disciplinary research

The PhD program in Organizational Behavior offers two tracks: either a micro or macro approach. In the micro track, students focus on the study of interpersonal relationships within organizations and the effects that groups have on individuals. Students in the macro track use sociological methods to examine organizations, groups, and markets as a whole, including topics such as the influence of individuals on organizational change, or the relationship between social missions and financial objectives. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program includes core disciplinary training in sociology or psychology, as well as additional coursework in organizational behavior.

Accounting & Management  

Business economics  , health policy (management)  , marketing  , organizational behavior  , strategy  , technology & operations management  .

Office Hours : By appointment.

Staff Support

Ann Richards [email protected] 617.496.3960

External Links

• Faculty Page
• Google Scholar
• Harvard Economics

Professor of Economics Department of Economics , Harvard University

• Publications

Working Papers

• IO @ Harvard

Robin S. Lee is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. His research lies primarily within the field of industrial organization, with much of his work examining how firms bargain, contract and form supply relationships in imperfectly competitive markets. Other topics covered include vertical integration, mergers, and exclusive dealing in media and in multi-sided/platform markets; insurer-provider consolidation, narrow networks, and selective contracting in health care markets; and market design innovation in financial markets. Professor Lee received his A.B. and A.M. in Economics and his Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research , previously served as a co-editor of American Economic Journal: Microeconomics , and is a recipient of the Econometric Society's Frisch Medal . Research fields: industrial organization, applied microeconomic theory, health economics.

Working Papers (Updated May 2019)

» Curriculum Vitae

» Research Summary

Refereed Publications

4. Competing Platforms Fall 2014, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy , 23(3): 507-526 .

Other Publications / Writings

Working projects, industrial organization courses: undergraduate, industrial organization courses: graduate (phd), seminars& workshops.

Last Updated July 2024

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Job Placement

Placement timeline, faqs, and interview advice.

Placement Directors 2024/25: Gabriel Chodorow-Reich and Jeremy Stein To assist with the preparation and planning for the market, refer to the suggested timeline and FAQs. 

Timeline   (2024/25)

FAQ3 (coming October 2024)

Application List Template   (use this when you create your application list)

How to Do a Great Interview on Zoom  

Zoom Setup Tips: Lighting, Screens, Sound   (with thanks to Shengwu Li) 

Negotiating and Exploding Offers   (see also Advice from Chris Blattman 2014/15) 

CV, Resume, and Webpage

CV Curriculum Vitae Template  for Harvard Economics Job Market Candidates (in Word using table layout; turn on "view gridlines" to fill it out ) and general information  ( The CV Guide ) on constructing your Curriculum Vitae. 

Resume For those applying to any private-sector job, a non-academic resume is your calling card. The Office of Career Services provides excellent help in the form of workshops and Resume and Cover Letter advice and templates. Previous Harvard students give OCS high marks, especially in helping with Resume writing.

Webpage Harvard is discontinuing the creation of Open Scholar pages. Paul Millett will work with every job market student to set up their webpages on Campus Press, the Harvard substitute for Open Scholar. Students with other websites (e.g., GitHub) can then add a line (e.g., "see my personal website") on the Campus Press page to enable access to their materials, including CV, JMP, and other papers.

Advice and Resources for the Job Market  

Compiling Your List

• JOE -  https://www.aeaweb.org/joe/    JOE will be your main resource.
• EJM -  https://econjobmarket.org / EJM will also be important.

Other platforms to search include:

• European Econ Assoc -  https://www.eeassoc.org/
• APPAM -  https://www.appam.org/
• Chronicle of Higher Ed -  https://jobs.chronicle.com/
• American Finance Assoc -  https://afajof.org/
• SSRN -  https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/
• Royal Ecoonomic Society RES -  https://res.org.uk/
• Academy of Management AOM -  https://aom.org/

Writing Resources

Writing well and effectively are important skills. These resources will help.

• Claudia Goldin, The Ten Most Important Rules of Writing Your Job Market Paper
• Deidre McCloskey, Economical Writing
• William Zinsser, On Writing Well; The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Tips and Advice (from Job Market Gurus and Harvard PhDs) and More Job Market Facts

• AEA Job Market Committee 2022 Report: Job Market Openings by Sector 
• American Economic Association, Communications from the Committee on the Job Market . Some recent information on supply and demand (what else?), plus the AEA’s advice to employers.
• Alex Albright, " So You Want to Go on the Job Market ." Reflections, sage advice, and a lot of data from one of our 2022 PhD graduates (and talented holiday party emcee).
• Chris Blattman, Managing the Academic Job Market . Chris Blattman (University of Chicago Harris School) offers some of the best advice we’ve seen. Read it. Some will be more relevant and some less relevant to your specific job search.
• John Cawley, Guide and Job Market Advice (2018-2019 edition). A standard resource in economics.
• Alex Chan, My Experience in the 2022-23 Job Market  Come to the Oct. 17, 2023 placement meeting and hear Alex. 
• Shoshana Vasserman's Job Market Tips  
• Eric Zwick, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Market . Zwick graduated from Harvard in 2014 and is an Associate Professor of Finance at University of Chicago Booth School.
• Anonymous, The Market in the Time of COVID (2021).
• Non-Academic Tips and Advice . Note the advice under “Job search through connections: Who.” You have lots of friends and family – previous Harvard PhDs. If they are working at a place you’d like to be, use them as a resource to find non-academic jobs.
• PhD Program
• Program Requirements
• Job Market Candidates
• Career Placement for Prior Classes
• Financial Support

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Public Policy

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The flexible nature of the program allows you to choose your own path in areas that most interest you—from microeconomic research to international development to climate change. Whichever program track you choose—economics, politics and institutions, judgment and decision sciences, and science, technology, and policy—you will have the opportunity to conduct scholarly research using the vast resources of Harvard University.

Students in the program have been involved in many diverse projects such as water research allocation in Zambia, racial disparities in the criminal justice system in Massachusetts, and the politics of the American welfare state.

Graduates of the program have gone on to teach at MIT, Duke, University of Texas, Penn State, and Yale. Others now have influential positions with NGOs like Resources for the Future, private institutions such as JP Morgan and Analysis Group, and multilateral organizations including the World Bank and Global Innovation Fund. Among the many illustrious graduates of the program is Larry Bacow, president of Harvard University.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Public Policy Program , and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Admissions Requirements

Please review the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Public Policy Program .

Academic Background

Applicants are admitted and matriculate into one of the four tracks listed below. Ordinarily, matriculated students cannot change to a different track from the one to which they were admitted. In rare and exceptional circumstances, students can apply to change tracks by submitting an application to the program. Visit the Public Policy program site for more information and to review the track-specific admissions prerequisites.

• Judgment and Decision Making
• Politics and Institutions
• Science, Technology and Policy Studies

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be no more than 20 pages long. The writing sample must be single-authored and written in English.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Required Writing Sample: Required iBT TOEFL minimum score: 103 IELTS minimum score: 7

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Public Policy

See list of Public Policy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.