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Brasão da PUC-Rio

Graduate Program in Economics

More information

Contact:
coor@econ.puc-rio.br
+55 21 3527-1078 / ext. 4

Address:
Departamento de Economia
Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225
Gávea, Rio de Janeiro - RJ

Office hours:
9:30am to 12:30pm and
3:00pm to 4:30pm


General Information

Program Overview and History

The Graduate Program of the Economics Department was created in 1978 with  the implementation of its Master’s Degree course. The establishment of its Doctoral Degree course followed in 1993. The Program has a solid international insertion, has been maintaining an international standard of excellence in its training of masters and doctors, and can exhibit extremely fertile research activities, combining relevance and quality to great influence on the formulation of  economic policies and public policies in general.

Objectives

The PUC-Rio Master’s course in Economics aims to offer students a solid theoretical and institutional education, leading to a deeper understanding of relevant aspects of contemporary economics, particularly in relation to the formulation and analysis of economic policies.

The Doctoral course seeks to train teachers and researchers in Economics of international excellence.


Concentration areas and lines of research

The research activities of the Department have focused on areas of monetary economics, finances, international economics, public sector economics, economics of work, evaluation of social politics and economic history.

Results of the Department’s research programs have been recognized in their influence on the country’s formulations of economic policies.

Concentration Area:

Econometrics, International Economics, Public Sector Economics, Economics of Work, Finances, Economic History and Macroeconomics

Lines of research

Line of Research 1: Monetary economics

Study of the transmission mechanisms of monetary policies in post-real Brazil. Estimation of the effects of the effects of monetary policies instruments under the control of the Central Bank. Policies of goals for inflation. Determinants of currency transference coefficient.

Research projects:

  • Monetary Policies in Open Economics
  • Monetary Models with linked professors
Line of Research 2: International Economics

Research on international economic issues relative to Brazilian commercial policy, multilateral commercial negotiations, regional economic integration, exchange policy, flow of capitals, foreign-exchange crises and patterns of contagion.

Research projects

  • Commercial Policies
  • Multilateral Commercial Negotiations
  • Regional Economic Integration
  • Foreign-Exchange Policy
  • Flow of Capitals and External Debt in Emerging Economies
Line of Research 3: Public Sector Economics

Monitoring of determinants of the evolution of Brazil’s public accounts and their consequences for the Brazilian economics as a whole. Study of possible future structural modifications of the Brazilian public sector.

Research projects

  • Budget, Public Debt and Public Deficit
  • Privatization and Regulation
  • Fiscal Federalism
  • Analysis of Collective Choice
Line of Research 4: Studies of Work and Social Policies

Examination of themes regarding the functioning of the job market, their institutions and public policies that affect the reduction of inequality and poverty.

Research projects

  • Work Productivity and Flexibility
  • Causes of Poverty and Inequality in Brazil
  • Institutional Reform and the Functioning of the Job Market
  • Behavior of the Brazilian Job Market
  • Work Studies and Social Policies
Line of Research 5: Applied Econometrics

Application of methods in econometrics, previously existent or developed by the group, to topics of interest in the economics area.

Research Projects

  • Empiric Application of Time Series Methods in Economics
  • Empiric Application of Cross-section/panel Methods in Economics
  • Methods of Simulation and Forecast in Economics
Line of Research 6: Finances

Study of the functioning of finance markets in Brazil and abroad from the perspective of recent developments in the field of financial economics, as found in current international literature.

Research projects

Financial Market:

  • Choice of Portfolio;
  • Pricing of Financial Assets;
  • Contingent and Futures Pricing;
  • Efficiency of the Financial Markets;
  • Financial Markets

Financial Institutions:

  • Banks;
  • Other Depository Institutions;
  • Mortgages;
  • Insurances;
  • Insurance Companies;
  • Pension Funds;
  • Investment Banks;
  • Policies of Government and Regulation.

Financial Risk

Line of Research 7: Corporate Finances

Investigate legal and institutional mechanisms that prevent company controllers from diluting the investment and creditors and minority shareholders.

Research Projects

  • Capital Structure
  • Governance
Line of Research 8: Brazilian Economic History

Investigation of Brazilian Economic history themes relative to commercial policies, financial history and economic policies.

Research Projects

  • Growth, stabilization and economic policies in Brazil
  • External debt from a historical perspective
  • Brazilian commercial history
Line of Research 9: Economic Theory

Theory of general balance, incomplete markets and market imperfections.

Research projects

  • Balance, credit risk and speculation in sequential markets.


Course Recognition

Master’s and Doctoral degrees

Recognition:
CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Eduction Personnel; from Brazilian Ministry of Education) evaluation: grade 6 (in a 3 to 7 scale) for the 2010-2012 period.
Approved by the CNE/CES MEC n.288/2015 of July 08, 2015.
Granted degree: Master/or Doctor in Economics


Requirements for obtaining the Master’s and Doctoral degrees

Master

Approval in seven compulsory disciplines with a minimum grade equal to six, in a zero to ten scale (19 credits total):

Completion of at least 09 credits in elective disciplines. Students intending on specializing in one of the concentration areas must complete a total of 06 credits in disciplines from this area.

Approval from the student's advisor in the Dissertation Seminar I and II disciplines, of which minimum requirements are, respectively, a dissertation project and substantive results of the dissertation research. These disciplines are under a mentoring form.

Approval in an English Exam provided by the Department of Economics.

Approval in the Master's dissertation.

Doctor

Completion of a minimum of 21 credits in compulsory and elective disciplines.

Approved in mathematics, statistics and econometrics exams up until the end of the Doctoral Program’s fourth period of studies. The student may be exempted from these exams in case of approval, up until two years prior to the beginning of the Doctoral Program, in Mathematical Methods in Economics (ECO 2712), Statistics (ECO 2701) and Econometry I (ECO 2705).

Approval in Macroeconomics III, Econometrics II and in one of the three compulsory disciplines of the economic history area.

Completion of two specialization areas, enrolling in the compulsory disciplines of each area (two for each area).

Approval in the Qualifying Examination, with a grade above 7 (in a zero to ten scale) until the end of the sixth period. The exam is composed of two written exams, one in each concentration area.

After approval in the Qualifying Examination, the student must have, each semester, the approval of the thesis advisor in Doctoral Dissertation Seminar I to IV disciplines, up until the completion of the Doctoral thesis. The progress of the thesis will be evaluated in these disciplines, as well as the participation in work seminars of the student’s thesis area. Prerequisite for approval in the Dissertation Seminar I discipline is the approval of the thesis project.

Proof of knowledge in two foreign languages, to be chosen from the Program’s list, at a sufficient level for reading comprehension, or in one foreign language at a sufficient reading and technical writing level. The student may be exempted from the language exam taken at the Master’s course.

Presentation, defense and approval of a Doctoral Thesis that provides a real contribution for the knowledge on the researched theme.


Admission and Enrollment

Master

The Program offers around 15 places per year.

Selection of Brazil-based applicants is done by an ad-hoc committee formed by the Department’s faculty members, based on the results of the ANPEC (National Association of Graduate Centers in Economics) annual National Selection Exam, on analysis of academic transcripts and on academic reference letters.

Students from other countries are eventually selected through analysis of their academic transcripts, academic reference letters and results of the GRE exam (www.gre.org).

Students admitted to the Program must imperatively follow the course full-time.

Doctor

The Program offers around 5 places a year.

Selection criteria is based on curriculum and academic transcripts, two reference letters and an outline of a research plan.

Applicants must fill in the PUC-Rio “Request for Admission to Graduate Programs”, there enclosing all required documents.