Graduate Program

Check out the Economics interactive brochure

Program Description

The UC Merced Economics Ph.D. is a STEM-designated, applied-micro focused program, with faculty expertise in immigration, innovation, public economics, political economy, economic history, international trade, experimental labor economics, education and cultural economics. The hallmarks of our program are strong mentorship from our vibrant, and very research-active faculty and strong training in the latest frontiers in data analysis and computing. Faculty have recently published in journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Public Economics, Labour Economics, Games, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, International Labor Relations Review, and the American Economic Review P&P. 

The Economics program is excellent preparation for careers in academia, industry, government, and public policy. We introduce students to research at an early stage and facilitate collaborations between students as well as with faculty (almost 100% of 2nd years are producing work co-authored with a faculty member). There is a great sense of camaraderie and cooperation, with frequent faculty get-togethers and a student-run reading group exploring the latest research. Students have ample opportunities to interact with leading scholars from around the globe through our active seminar series and there are also several All-UC and All-CA groups, for example in economic history and labor economics, to connect students to the research environment and vast array of resources associated with the University of California, the world’s premier public university system.

We currently have 15 students across 5 cohorts who are successfully navigating their path towards independent research. We are searching for more outstanding candidates to form the third cohort of our strong program. We plan to admit another small, high-quality, cohort and funding packages tend to be highly competitive, including the possibility to receive a merit-based internal fellowship funded by the Charles Perry Ellis endowment.

Our 2025-2026 grad course offerings are as follows:

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