UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

 PhD programmes in Economics

The Department of Economics offers postgraduate programmes leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Economics.

Philosophy

In keeping with the goals of the University and in line with the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) minimum benchmark for Postgraduate programmes in Economics, the postgraduate programme run by the Department of Economics have been redesigned to promote advanced training and research in Economics. The Department of Economics was motivated to introduce PhD courses in order to: (1) bridge the gap between the Master’s degree holders trained in the Department and those coming from other universities (2) bring candidates who finished their master’s degree many years ago up-to-date with the current trend, (3) provide basic training in advanced economic theory, research methods and econometric modeling to enable students produce high quality publishable PhD research in economics and (4) to meet the NUC minimum benchmark for postgraduate programmes in the Nigerian universities. In other words, the PhD coursework is designed to ensure quality control.

NB: Senior lecturers and professors who teach postgraduate courses in Economics are required to follow the course contents sequentially and consult only recommended textbooks used worldwide to deliver postgraduate courses. Lecturers are not expected to deviate from this standard programme at all times.

Objectives

The main objectives of the programmes are:

  1. To develop highly competent and versatile professional economists through the provision of relevant academic and professional courses which are required in order to meet the challenges of the Nigerian economy in the context of globalization.
  2. To continuously produce professional economists who are well armed to play positive roles towards the social and economic advancement of Nigeria, Africa and the world by playing advisory roles in government agencies, ministries and departments.
  3. The key objective of the Ph.D Programme is to train and develop       highly Professional economists, preparing and building up their independent intellectual capacity for sustainable and creative useful careers in teaching and research in higher institutions of learning, research and administration in research institutes, government, non-governmental/national and international organizations, business organizations and specialized consultancy services.
  4. To preparing students for a career in public and private services as well as in international institutions.

Stress Areas

The stress areas include Economic Theory, Econometrics, Monetary Economics, Labour and Industrial Economics, International Economics, Development Economics, Economic Planning, Mathematical Economics, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Petroleum and Energy Economics, Finance and Public Sector Economics, Environmental Economics, and Health Economics.

Job Opportunities

The job opportunities for the holders of PhD degrees in Economics are quite numerous to mention. For example, holders of PhD degrees can work in the Central and commercial banks, the Ministry of finance, the National Planning Commission, the Budget of office, the IMF, the World Bank, teach in the universities or colleges of education and polytechnics as serve as advisers to government agencies or top government officials.

Mode of Study:

The mode of study for the PhD programme shall be:

  1. Full-time and
  2. Part-time

Thesis Requirements

The PhD programme shall consist of three components, namely, a course Work, Thesis Writing and Oral Defence. The course work would be for one academic session, and shall be taken only on a full-time basis. No candidate shall be accepted as a part-time PhD student who has not successfully completed the course work. Where appropriate, all courses failed must be repeated and passed before the student will be allowed to present his/her thesis proposal. Public servants who are admitted into the PhD programme must provide evidence of leave of absence or study leave permitting them to undertake the one year PhD course work after which they may be permitted to register on a part-time basis.

Each candidate shall submit appropriate number of bound copies of a supervised Thesis as the final requirement for the award of the PhD degree. The supervised thesis must be based on original research, which must be orally defended successfully before an appropriate panel of examiners. The thesis must represent a specific original contribution to economic knowledge. Prior to submission for oral examination, each PhD student must give at least three seminars as follows: (1) presentation of research proposal (2) presentation of progress report and (3) presentation of final report. On no account must any of the steps skipped for any student. Ph.D students whose works fail plagiarism tests will not be allowed to present their thesis proposals and may be asked to discontinue the programmme by the Departmental Board.

Admission Requirement

All candidates must:

  1. Possess the university minimum requirement for a B.Sc degree in Economics
  2. Have obtained a Bachelor’s degree from an approved university whose Economic Programme is accredited by NUC.
  • Have a minimum of a Second Class Lower degree in the discipline with CGPA of not lower than 2.5 on a 5.0 point scale..
  1. Hold a Master’s degree in Economics with a CGPA of at least 4.0 on a 5.0 point scale.
  2. Submit a brief satisfactory statement of intended area of research.

 

Duration of the Programme

The duration of the PhD programme shall be:

Full-time: A minimum of six (6) semesters and a maximum of ten (10) semesters.

Part-time: A minimum of eight (8) semesters and a maximum of twelve (12) semesters

Requirements for Graduation

Minimum credit unit load is 30: Doctorate (PhD) programme Course Work (12 units), Seminars (6 units) and Thesis (12 units) making a minimum of 30 credit unit loads. A Doctoral (PhD) Thesis of 12 credit units must be defended before a panel of examiners of professional status.

Compulsory Courses:

Selected Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics                                                             4

Selected Topics in Advanced Microeconomics                                                              4

Research Methods and Econometrics                                                                             4

Seminars                                                                                                                                6

Thesis                                                                                                                                     12

Total                                                                                                                                       30

 

 

List of Supervisors:

  1. Professor Cletus Chike Agu, B.Sc, M.Sc (Ibadan), PhD (Wales). Area of Specialisation: Monetary Economics.
  2. Professor Stella Ifeoma Madueme, B.Sc, B.Ed, M.Ed, M.Sc, Ph.D, Ph.D (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation:  Economic Development
  3. Professor Hyacinth Ementa Ichoku, B.Sc , M.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, Ph.D (Cape Town). Areas of specialization: Health and Development Finance
  4. Professor Osita Ogbu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc., PhD (Howard). Area of Specialisation:
  5. Dr. Ezebuilo Romanus Ukwueze, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialization:

Development Economics

  1. Jude Okechukwu Chukwu, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation:

Development Economics

  1. Dr. Uche Mordecai Ozughalu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, PhD (Ibadan).

Area of Specialisation: Development Economics.

  1. Emmanuel Onyenunam Nwosu, B.Sc (First Class Hons), M.Sc., (Nigeria), M.A. (Tsukuba), PhD (Nigeria). Areas of Specialisation: Development Microeconomics, and Microeconometrics,.
  2. Dr. Anthony Orji, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialization: Finance and Development
  3. Dr. Richardson Kojo Edeme, B.Sc., M.Sc (Deltsu), PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Public Finance.
  4. Dr. Nathaniel Emeka Urama, B.Sc. (First Class Hons), M.Sc, Ph.D (Nigeria).

Area of Specialisation: Macroeconomics

Areas of Specialization for Doctorate (PhD) in Economics

  1. Economic Theory
  2. Industrial Economics
  3. International Economics
  4. Monetary Economics
  5. Finance & Public Sector Economics
  6. Development Economic
  7. Labour Economics
  8. Environmental Economics
  9. Health Economics
  10. Operations Research
  11. Petroleum & Energy Economics
  12. Economic Planning
  13. Advanced Economics
  14. Mathematical Statistics
  15. Mathematical Economic
  16. All such other areas of specialization that may be approved from time by the Senate of the respective university.

Compulsory Courses

Eco 601 Advanced Microeconomic Economic Theory and Policy 1 (first Semester)               ( 2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of the Theory of the firm: technology of the firm; properties of the firm’s technology; profit maximization; weak axiom of profit maximization and comparative statics; Cost minimization; weak axiom of cost minimization and comparative statics results; Advanced treatment of Consumer behaviour theory and applications to practical issues such as contingent valuation methods, agricultural household models; Decisions under Uncertainty: expected utility theory; risk aversion; principal-agent problem; insurance markets.

Eco 602 Advanced Microeconomic Economic Theory and Policy 11 (Second Semester)       (2 UNITS)

Extensive treatment of theory of Games and its applications to the study of oligopoly models- classical and modern models. Market failures: externalities; public goods; and Asymmetric information; Introduction to mechanisms design. Institutional economics; economics of transaction;

Eco 603 Advanced Macroeconomic Theory and Policy 1 (first Semester)                                (2 UNITS)

Theories of Economic Growth and Fluctuations: Solow Model: Cross-country per capita income convergence; dynamic optimization, and applications to dynamics of economic growth; The new (Endogenous) Growth models and the challenge to the neoclassical models; Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans model and Over-lapping generations model, the role of Government purchases; real business cycle theory;

 Eco 604 Advanced Macroeconomic Theory and Policy 11 (second Semester)                        (2 UNITS)

The design of macroeconomic policy; Monetary and Fiscal Policies and economic stabilization; Instruments, Targets, and objectives; Feasible and optimal policy in a dynamic setting; Rational Expectations and other problems in optimal policy (Lucas critique) choice; the politics of policy-making. Review of Macroeconomic Models for Policy in African Countries.

 Eco 691 Research Methods I: Qualitative Research (first Semester)                                        (2 UNITS)

The design of economic research project: academic research proposal versus grant-seeking research proposal; identification and formulation of the research problem; formulation of main objectives and specific objectives; essence and techniques of literature review; documentation of literature sources; methodology: survey method, historical method, econometric methods, methods of experimental design. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks; Sources of research data; Sampling and sampling design (design and validation of research instrument): sample selection procedure and techniques of questionnaire design/administration; procedures for data collation (scoring and coding for computer analysis); data reduction: method of principal component, etc. The structure of the research thesis;

ECO 692 PhD Thesis                                                                                                                                            (12 UNITS)

The thesis must deal with a research problem chosen from the Candidate’s area of specialization. It must show familiarity with existing Literature and a mastery of research methodology. It must also make an original contribution to knowledge and be publishable. Before the completion of the PhD programme, the candidate must show evidence of journal acceptance for publication of an article extracted from the PhD topic.

Elective Courses

Eco 672 Research Methods II: Microeconometric Modeling (second Semester)                                  (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of Cross-sectional and panel data models: Analysis of household surveys using STATA and other softwares; poverty and inequality analysis and policy simulation; endogenous regressors, panel data models: first difference estimator; Fixed effect and random effects models; panel instrumental variables and dynamic panels; attrition problems. Limited dependent variable models: probit, logit, bivariate probit and multinomial logit models; Model Selection: two-step estimator and Heckman model selection. Impact evaluation techniques: propensity score matching, regression discontinuity design (RD); count data models. Computer/practical exercises.

Eco 606 Research Methods III: Time Series and macroeconometric modeling (second semester)   (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of Time series econometrics: Testing for stationarity; accounting for structural breaks in the data, cointegration and the estimation of error correction models; structural VAR models, ARIMA and GARCH Models; forecasting with ARIMA, GARCH and VAR and VEC models; introduction to macroeconometric model building; forecasting and simulations; Computer/practical exercises.