calcox

Sorry wrong thread.

I suppose it depends on what your particular interests are, but I think Labor Economics is a good complement to I/O. Labor unions are just cartels in the labor market, so I see the two fields as closely related.

Check out this link: Rankings: Microeconomic Theory

I've already got 3 economists who will write letters for me. I had classes with 2 of them in my MS econ program. The other I worked for as an RA and a TA for over 2 years. So really, if I didn't get a letter from the transportation prof, I would still have 3 letters from economists, including one I was an RA for.

I'm interested in applied micro (including urban/regional econ, state and local public finance). The transportation prof is a Northwestern grad (currently my top choice of schools), but I was under the impression that LOR from profs other than economists and mathematicians were not useful. Could this be an exception?

I'm preparing to apply for Econ PhD admission for next fall, and trying to decide which of two part-time job leads would be more beneficial. One is a TA job for undergrad managerial economics. The other is an RA job for a transportation planning professor. I've got previous experience as both a TA and an RA in econ. I know that in general working as an RA looks better on the resume of a potential econ phd student than working as a TA. However, what about working as an RA in a (related) outside discipline like transportation planning?

There were some concepts from analysis that I had to pick up to do some of the proofs for Topology (e.g. density of the rational numbers on the real line), but nothing I couldn't find on wikipedia.

Math: Topology Advanced Calculus I (currently taking) Probability and Statistics I (currently taking) Calculus IV (Vector Calculus) Calculus III Differential Equations Econ (all Master's level): Time-Series Econometrics Research Methods Microeconomic Theory Macroeconomic Theory Game Theory and Experiments Econometrics

Sounds basically the same is my ODE course.

University of Houston is one lower-ranked school with a research concentration in game theory. Another potential backup with a game theory focus is Virginia Tech.

I had originally been planning to start a PhD this fall, but (1) I was getting married in July, and (2) I had not yet taken analysis or a calculus-based stats course. I decided to wait to start my PhD next year so I could take those math classes and have a year to build my young marriage before I dove into grad school. I am SO glad I made that decision, because, believe me, getting married is enough stress on its own. Plus, with those math classes I can apply to much better schools than I could otherwise. Don't rush yourself. It's worth taking the time to build a strong marriage and a strong math background. That way, you have more (and better) options for schools and a better chance of succeeding once you get there.

I think psychoeconomics is just another name for behavioral economics. Perhaps the seperate subfield you're thinking of is neuroeconomics?

I had a professor who did consulting for local governments. He said that he would give his results to the client and let them decide what do with it (publish it, hide it, shred it, whatever) but he would not alter his conclusions to suit their liking. In the long run, the integrity of your work is more important than any one client. I think this is true whether or not you agree with your client's agenda. I've worked on projects for clients who had agendas I liked and agendas I didn't like, but in either case your integrity has to come first.

Cal Tech. Not sure about the fields, but if you want an Econ PhD without Macro, Cal Tech is the place to go. Also, I think maybe Vanderbilt's PhD in Law & Economics (not to be confused with their PhD in Economics) also has no Macro requirement. Perhaps other PhD programs in Applied Econ or in Agricultural Econ might also skip the Macro.

Hi everyone. I posted a profile a while back, but here's an updated one. I especially wanted to know what you think of my list of schools, whether I am aiming too high/low, etc. GPA: 4.0 for all undergrad and grad work, including all econ and math classes. Econ: BS and MS from a regional state school in North Carolina. Math: Calc. I-III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Vector Calculus, Topology. I plan to take Advanced Calculus I & II as well as Math Stats I & II over the 07-08 academic year. However, as I am applying for admission for fall of 2008, only the 1st courses in advance calc and math stats will appear on my application transcript. GRE: 780Q/610V. LOR: 3 very strong letters from econ profs, but none of them are well-known. I might be able to get one from the math prof I had for topology, as he is also teaching my advanced calc class this fall. Research Experience: I did a master's project on corporate dividend taxes, and I'm working on a paper with 3 profs (2 economists and 1 accountant) on the same topic. I'm also an RA for an economist working on a project relating cleanup of contaminated industrial sites to residential property values. I previously was an RA for a transportation planner doing a cost-effectiveness study on local transit systems. TA/Tutoring Experience: Micro/Macro Principles, Managerial Econ, Econometrics, MBA Econ, Law & Econ, Environmental Econ, Econ for PhD Public Policy Teaching Experience: I'll be teaching Micro/Macro Principles at a community college this coming fall. Fields of Interest: I am open to several field options, but mainly interested in applied micro topics such as Urban/Regional Econ, I/O, Law & Econ. I also have some interest in Experimental Econ. Schools I am considering (roughly in order of preference): Northwestern (reach) Duke (reach) Carnegie Mellon UIUC WUSTL Virginia Texas A&M Ohio State Purdue Vanderbilt Indiana Kentucky (safety) North Carolina State (safety) As my list suggests, I have a preference for living in the South (where I am from) or the Midwest (where my wife is from). However, this is not set in stone.

In Atlanta there's Georgia State U and Emory U. There's also Florida International U in Miami. Depending on what you consider a "big" city there's also NC State U in Raleigh (metro population just under 1 million).

I tutor undergraduate managerial economics, and I recently noticed a conflict between how I define opportunity cost and how the textbook (Samuelson and Marks) uses the term. I was taught that opportunity cost is the same as economic cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. However, in the textbook used by my tutees, the term opportunity cost means implicit costs only. So what precisely do economists mean by opportunity costs: total economic costs or just implicit costs?

The field of Law & Economics is concerned with many types of law, especially contracts and torts, but also criminal and family law. Antitrust is also discussed sometimes, but it's much more central to I/O. Central to the field of L&E are the Coase Theorem and the "Coase Corollary" which basically says that laws should be structured in such a way that minimizes transactions costs. A typical question dealing with contract law is this: if someone breaches a contract with you, should they just give you your money back, should they make you as well off as if the contract had never been signed, or should they make you as well off as if they had fulfilled the contract? The choice of rules has consequences for efficient contract signing and efficient contract breach. In tort law, much emphasis is placed on giving the incentive to avoid a problem to the "least-cost avoider." For example, imagine your neighbor's dog is tearing up your rose garden. Should you build a fence or should your neighbor leash their dog? The Coase Theorem says the outcome will be the same regardless of who has property rights if transactions costs are zero. However, transactions costs are probably not zero, so it could matter for economic efficiency whether the law says you have a right to not have your rose garden dug up or your neighbor has a right to let their dog roam free. Suppose its less costly for your neighbor to leash their dog than for you to build a fence. Then your neighbor is the least-cost avoider of the problem, so the law should give your neighbor the incentive to do so by giving you the right to sue for damages if the dog digs up your rose garden. A very readable introduction to this field is Law's Order: What Economics has to do with the Law and Why it Matters by David Friedman. It was used as the main text in my undergraduate L&E course. The entire text is actually available for free on the author's website: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/laws_order/index.shtml

In addition to those mentioned already, check out http://www.abebooks.com

Well, since economics comes from root words meaning "household rules," then you could argue stay-at-home parent is an economics job. Especially if you're interested in Gary Becker's work.:D

I've got a BS and MS in economics and now taking math classes before applying to PhD programs. So far I have taken Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Vector Calc, and Topology (all A's). Over the next academic year I plan to take Advanced Calc I-II and Math Stats I-II. There are a few other additional classes that are being offered and I wondered which one(s) would be most valuable on the margin. My options are the following: Differential Equations. Prerequisite: Calculus II. An introduction to ordinary differential equations including first order equations, general theory of linear equations, series solutions, special solutions, special equations such as Bessel's equation, and applications to physical and geometric problems. Graph Theory. Prerequisite: Linear Algebra. Graphs as mathematical models. Planarity, colorability, connectivity, trees. Applications and algorithms for networks, matching problems and areas of computer science. Introduction to Modern Algebra. Prerequisite: Calculus II and Linear Algebra. Examples and elementary properties of basic algebraic structures, especially groups. The course emphasizes the writing of proofs of elementary theorems. Operations Research: Deterministic Models. Prerequisite: Calculus II and Linear Algebra. Linear, integer and dynamic programming, the simplex method, networks, PERT and CPM techniques, game theory, and applications.

Gary Becker is famous for applying economic analysis to topics usually dealt with in sociology, such as family relationships.

This is why I majored in econ, and not accounting.

I think maybe it depends on the type of stipend. In my MS program, I'm on both a fellowship and an assistantship, both of which pay a stipend. The fellowship stipend is not taxed, while the assistantship stipend is. Taxes are witheld from the assistantship stipend, but not for social security. I suppose the assistantship stipend is treated differently because I have to work for it.

It's definitely possible to do a public policy PhD with an econ background. I haven't looked in depth at the top schools in this field, but my school has such a program, and I know some of the students. The sense I get is that its easier for students with an econ background to pick up the stuff from political science, sociology, etc. along the way than it is for students from these other social sciences to pick up the econ.