PhD

About the Finance Area Program

The main objective of the program is to produce well-trained researchers who can be placed in the top academic finance departments in the country. Doctoral students in finance at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business have access to a large, active and collegial finance faculty with diverse research interests. The faculty devotes significant resources to the Ph.D. program, recognizing that having a top Ph.D. program is critical to maintain an outstanding research environment. The relatively small number of students ensures quality interaction with the faculty. Faculty research interests include the advantages of floor trading versus electronic trading; innovation and divestment; financial intermediation systems in emerging economies; the organization of mutual funds; and the role systematic irrationality plays in the behavior of financial markets, a new area of exploration in finance.

Courses

Students complete most of the course work for the Ph.D. during the first two years of the program. Because doctoral-level classes in micro-economic theory, mathematical economics, statistics and finance are among the first-year requirements, strong prior preparation is essential.

Courses during the second year comprise at least six electives (typically in math, economics and econometrics) in addition to two Ph.D.-level finance courses, one each semester. Students take two more doctoral seminars in finance during the third year. For the remainder of the program, they typically take one course per term in an area related to their research.

• BA855 Fundamentals of Investment Decisions with Symmetric Information
• BA865 Economics of Uncertainty and Information
• FIN 871 Corporate Finance
• FIN 872 Continuous-Time Asset Pricing
• FIN 875 Empirical Methodology in Finance
• FIN 885 Research Topics in Finance
• FIN 900 Special Research for Doctoral Applicants & Candidates
• FIN 990 Dissertation - Precandidacy
• FIN 995 Dissertation - Candidacy

Research

The finance department sponsors two seminars per week, and Ph.D. students are active participants in both seminars. To become proficient in the art of research, students produce a literature review during their first summer and a research paper during their second summer. They present their work in departmental seminars during the academic year. Students are also assigned to work for faculty members as research assistants.

Preliminary Examination and Candidacy

Exams covering finance and related areas typically take place at the end of the second year. Students advance to candidacy by passing the exams and completing the two research papers. The remainder of the program is devoted to the dissertation.

Finance Area PhD Coordinator

Tyler Shumway,
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, Micigan, 48109
Email: shumway@umich.edu
www.umich.edu/~shumway

Current PhD Students

Prospective Students

• Apply to the PhD Program