Programs

Harvard undergraduate student in front of Littauer Center

Undergraduate

The large number of professors and their diverse interests enable a student to study virtually any area of economics.  The extraordinary quality of Harvard undergraduates makes the classroom environment stimulating for teacher and student alike.

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Graduate

Supported by a diverse group of faculty who are top researchers in their fields and fueled by a vast array of resources, the PhD program is structured to train and nurture students to become leading economists in academia, government agencies, the technology industry, finance and banking, and global policy organizations.

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At a Glance

  • 59

    Faculty
    Members

  • 19

    Areas of
    Study

  • 82

    Undergraduate
    Courses

  • 535

    Undergraduate
    Concentrators

  • 48

    Graduate
    Courses

  • 195

    Graduate
    Concentrators

The Department of Economics is part of the larger academe of teaching and research at Harvard University.

Faculty Spotlight

The Harvard economics department is a big tent – big enough to include many kinds of people working in many different fields, from finance to economic history, from behavioral economics to political economy, and so much more.  Our students and faculty combine these fields in creative ways that are hard to achieve anywhere else.

John Campbell

John Campbell

Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics

News and Events

Edward Glaeser

Prof. Edward Glaeser Helps Boston Mayor Michelle Wu '07 On Assessing Incentives for Housing in the City

March 14, 2024

Professor Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and the Chairman of the Department of Economics, was interviewed by the Harvard Gazette for his work with assembling a team of economists to analyze the costs of creating tax incentives to building more housing in the city of Boston.  He was contacted to do so by his former student, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu '07. 

...

Read more about Prof. Edward Glaeser Helps Boston Mayor Michelle Wu '07 On Assessing Incentives for Housing in the City
Ludwig Straub

Professor Ludwig Straub and Alumnus Professor Ellora Derononcourt Named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows

February 21, 2024

Professor Ludwig Straub, Associate Professor of Economics, was among the list of this year's Sloan Research Fellows.  The fellowship is awarded to "early-career scholars" that "represent the most promising scientific researchers working today."

Also among the list of fellows is alumna Professor Ellora Derononcourt, now an Assistant Professor at Princeton...

Read more about Professor Ludwig Straub and Alumnus Professor Ellora Derononcourt Named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
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2024 Mar 19

ECON 3005 Graduate Student Workshop in Economic Development

12:00pm to 1:15pm

Location: 

HKS, Taubman, Nye ABC Conference Center, 5th Floor

Breakout Groups

Lauren Rice & Madhavi Jha "NCD’s, Nutrition, and Networks”

Nikhil Kumar "Cognitive and Non-cognitive effects of peer-teaching”

Yousra Neberai "Interactions between Informal and Formal Financial Institutions in Thailand”

Alice Danon "Opportunities across borders? The impact of remote work for refugees”

Konstantin Poensgen "Private provision of public services: The case of drinking water in Ghana"
... Read more about ECON 3005 Graduate Student Workshop in Economic Development

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  • Fields of Study

    Theory

    The study of the application of using hypothetical quantitative economic models.

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    Political Economy

    The study of production and trade and their relations with law, custom and government; and with the distribution of national income and wealth.

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    Econometrics

    The study of developing and using statistical and mathematical tools to analyze economic issues and policy
    questions.

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    Macroeconomics

    The study of the national economy and the determinants of national production, unemployment, and inflation.

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    Economic History

    The study of how economies and economic outcomes have changed over history and how economic institutions have developed. 

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    International Economics

    The study of the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. 

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  • Fields of Study

    Behavioral Economics

    The study of the cognitive and emotional dimensions of economic decisions.

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    Industrial Organization

    The study of individual markets and the nature of competition. Topics include anti-trust policy, the role of advertising, and how costs vary with the scale of operations. This field also studies particular industries such as software and technology firms, sports, and tourism.

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    Economic Development

    The study of why some countries have developed while others have not, with special focus on the world’s less developed countries. How might the industrialized countries improve prospects for development around the world?

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    Labor Economics

    The study of employers’ decisions to hire workers and employees’ decisions to work. This involves determinants of wages, the incentives workers face, and the role of minimum wage laws, unions, pensions, and training programs. 

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    Financial Economics

    The study of how to value and determine the price of assets with uncertain returns their derivatives and the markets that trade them; the study of how firms finance their operations and the capital structure of firms.

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    Public Economics

    The study of the role of government in the economy including how to evaluate government programs, the design of tax systems, and how the political process makes decisions.

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