PhD in Financial Economics (in Regular)

Objectives of the program
This PhD program is one of the first programs to formally respond to the substantial demand for financial economists in research and policy making positions in government, universities, business and financial institutions. Hence, the general objectives of the program are to:-

  • Make training and research in financial economics is a sources of innovation and a critical means of solving the multifaceted challenges and problems surrounding the financial sector,
  • Provide a holistic learning experience that develops exceptional and financial researchers, policy makers, and chief executive leaders of financial institutions to meet challenges of a complex and dynamic local and international financial sector
  • Place our graduates at the forefront of financial economic science, to build the capacity of public and private financial sector ministry, agencies, and policy research institutes, universities, and consulting firms.
  • Produce high caliber professionals (having the required knowledge, skills, ethical values or attitude) capable of designing financial sector policies to reap the full benefits of financial deepening, promote capital market development, and ensure sustainable financial development in the country

Admission Requirements
Applications to the PhD program in financial economics at the Department of Economics of Jimma University are accepted ones a year, prior to the beginning of each semester. Prospective candidates for the Ph.D. degree in Financial Economics should be advised that mathematical modeling is used heavily in the field. Indeed, it is virtually impossible to read any current major journal without considerable training in modeling methods.
Admission to the program is on competitive bases and will be based on the cumulative average score of entrance exam, CGPA at MPhil degree, MSc or MA level, and service year/work experiences. Hence, an applicant for admission to the PhD in financial Economics should fulfill the academic criteria as;

  • Applicant must have completed MPhil degree or equivalent in Financial economics or MSc/MA in economics, (specialized in Economic Policy Analysis,, Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, Natural Resources Economics, Environmental Economics, Labour Economics, financial economics and other economics fields) accredited by Higher Education Relevance and Quality Assurance (HERQA) in Economics; or
  • Applicants must have completed MSc/MA degree in related field(s) of study other than economics field of studies listed above such as Accounting and Finance, Banking and Finance, Marketing Management, etc., but have already taken or are willing to take as a bridging four core economics courses- (Advanced Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, econometrics, and Mathematics specific to their field (e.g., Advanced Mathematics for Economists, Finance, or Managers, etc.,) with 3 credit hours and scored a minimum of B grade at postgraduate level.
  • All applicants should have a minimum CGPA of 3.00 (or its equivalent if the PG grading scale was different than GPA) during graduation from postgraduate programs in economics and related field(s) of studies; and non-academic requirements.

Graduate profile(Program outcome)
Graduates of PhD in Financial economics should be equipped with the knowledge, skills, as well as attitudinal change;
Knowledge:- Upon completion of their study graduates should gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of:

  • concepts and to think creatively about ground breaking ideas of how to regulate constantly developing financial markets and new financial instruments
  • modern financial economics theories and principles, monetary policy, financial regulations frameworks analysis techniques and methods  for solving national financial sector priority problems and issues
  • influential entities, such as central banks and investment/development banks, financial markets and institutions behavior, competitive strategies, policy instruments and regulation frameworks.
  • a broad range of state-of-the-art modeling, and data analysis technique that economists use to design and analyze financial policies and strategies, and
  • development projects analysis, appraisal, financing, monitoring, and management techniques

Skills:-After the completion of the PhD Program in Financial Economics, graduates should be able to:

  • investigate global secondary money markets and indirect instruments,
  • work extensively with theoretical models of financial economics and develop analytical skills they can transfer to other kinds of intellectual problems,
  • analyze the behavior of the different classes of market participants, for example, banks, insurances, pension funds, activist investors and hedge funds.
  • manipulate up to-date statistical software packages for econometrics modeling and analyze questions in financial strategies, competition policy, and regulation mechanisms,
  • conduct rigorous quantitative and qualitative researches and analyze a range of national financial challenges, problems, and policies for sustainable financial sector development,
  • design policies and strategies that could address the developing countries critical national financial sector challenges, and
  • develop/plan, appraise, monitor and evaluate, and manage development projects

Attitude:-The program should also enable graduates to develop the following attitudinal changes:

  • Act professionally and debate intellectually with different scholars and professionals in seminars, conferences, and workshops. on financial development and inclusiveness issues
  • Advocate public accountability in the dissemination of knowledge and research findings to financial institutions for effective and sustainable financial sector development
  • Having rational attitude towards developmental state financial policies and strategies of the country
  • Promote scientific research ethics free from plagiarism and acknowledging the property right of scholars and institutions in their research work, and
  • Participate actively and voluntarily in initiation, planning/formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of local saving mobilization, financial literacy, and development projects in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Duration of the Program
The PhD program in Economics, specialized in financial economics, is research-based four years program fully taught in English. It has been restructured to a 2+2 year degree. The first two years of the Program is devoted to a range of post-MSc courses. The last two years of the PhD program are dedicated to full-time research for the completion of the doctoral thesis.
Full time (regular) students admitted to the program are expected to complete their study in four years’ time (or 8 semesters) under normal circumstances. But, the duration of the study for those who have joined the regular program after taking the one or more of the four bridge courses for  semester will be four and half  years (or 5 years or 10 semesters). The case of any delayed student, who failed to complete his/her study within the duration of study mentioned in this section, shall be decided according to the University’s legislation. Upon completion of the program, graduates will earn a PhD’s Degree in Financial Economics from Jimma University, recognized by the Ministry of Education of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Graduation Requirement
The candidate must satisfy the following requirements to qualify for graduation in PhD Degree in Financial Economics;

  • There must be No “F, NG or I‟ grade in any course taken.
  • To complete courses in the program, a candidate needs to obtain a minimum CGPA of 3.00 in total credit hours of 42 credit course workas and no “C ” or below grade in all courses.
  • When the CGPA of PhD student is less than 3.00, and/or if the student has to repeat all courses with “C” grades or lower and score a minimum grade of “B”
  • The candidate must write an acceptable PhD dissertation on topics related to financial economics and should obtain a satisfactory grade or above for graduation, which may appear on the transcript but will not be used for calculation of the CGPA of the student.
  • The candidate is expected to publish three articles in peer reviewed journal from the result of the PhD dissertation.
  • The candidate must attend all the department seminar/conference and obtain at pass grade. .

Degree Nomenclature
Up on successful completion of their study, the graduates will get PhD degree having the following nomenclature in English and Amharic.
In English: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Financial Economics

And

Amharic: ·:የፍልስፍናዶክትሬትዲግሪበፋይናንሻልኢኮኖሚክስ.

Course Breakdown by Year and Semester

 SEMESTER I

Course no             

Course title

Cr. Hour

FACFN711

Advanced Financial mathematics

3

FECON 712

Advanced Economics for Money, Banking and Finance

3

FECON 713

Advanced Macroeconomics

3

 

Total

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SEMESTER II

Course no             

Course title

Cr. Hour

FECON 721

Behavioral finance

3

FECON 722

Economics of Financial Markets

3

FECON 723

Applied Financial Econometrics

3

FECON 724

Advanced research methodology in financial economics

3

 

Total

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEMESTER III  

Course no

Course title

Cr. Hour

FECON 831

International money and Finance

3

FECON 832

Mega Investment Projects Analysis and Management

3

FECON 833

Strategic issues for Sustainable Financial Development in developing countries

3

 

Total

9

  SEMESTER IV  

Course no

Course title

Cr. Hour

FECON 840

Thesis Proposal writing

2

FECON 841

Advanced Financial markets and Institutions

4

FECON 842

Financial policy analysis and modeling

4

FECON 843

Financial Stochastic Processes

4

 

Attendance of departmental PhD seminars /conference

 

 

Total

14

 YEAR 3

SEMESTER V

Course No.

                Course Title

Cr. Hours

 

Preparation of research proposal (Preliminary of 1st paper)

3

 

Presentation of research proposal and plan for future research to Upgrade Panel

 

 

Data collection

 

 

Total

3

 SEMESTER VI

Course No.

                Course Title

Cr. Hours

 

Completion and publication of 1st paper

3

 

Data collection

 

 

Data entry, coding, analysis, and write up

 

 

First draft of 2nd paper

 

 

Participation &Presentation in PhD seminar/conference/

 

 

Total

3

 YEAR 4

 SEMESTER VII

Course No.

                Course Title

Cr. Hours

 

Draft PhD thesis submitted

3

 

First draft of 3rd papers

 

 

Completion and publication of 2nd paper

 

 

Total

3

 SEMESTER VIII 

Course No.

                Course Title

Cr. Hours

 

Finalize and submit the PhD thesis

3

 

Completion and publication of 3rd paper

 

 

Mock defense/presentation in internal seminar

 

 

Presentation in PhD seminar series/conference, and other conferences and workshops

 

 

PhD viva

 

 

Total

3

Total

GRAND TOTAL

56