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Faculties and schools_

School of Economics

Understanding and shaping the broad framework of our society
Economics is a diverse and fascinating discipline that addresses a range of issues that we face in modern life and plays a central role in shaping our society at every level.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate economics programs consistently rank in the top five for Australia*. We have a long and proud history of research strengths and teaching excellence and are one of the most highly ranked centres for research in economics globally. 

Our academics and researchers are leaders in their fields. Their broad expertise promotes a deep understanding of the key concepts of economics and a focus on contemporary issues.  

Our alumni are highly sought after and have included a former Prime Minister, several NSW premiers, and leaders in the World and Reserve Banks. Our graduates have also held influential positions in the Treasury and other policy departments, international agencies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), financial institutions and non-government organisations.

Our study offering

Undergraduate courses

The Bachelor of Economics introduces you to a diverse, fascinating discipline that addresses a range of big issues in modern life and plays a central role in shaping the broad framework of society at every level. It provides undergraduate training in theoretical and applied aspects of modern economics, econometrics and financial economics. 

Majors and minors

Below is a list of our economics majors and minors, available to students in the Bachelor of Economics (except where indicated) and numerous other undergraduate courses - click on the links for further details.

Econometrics
Economic Policy*

*Not available to Bachelor of Economics students

 

Economics
Environmental, Agricultural and Resource Economics
Financial Economics

Honours 

Honours is an additional year (full time) of study on top of a three-year bachelor’s degree. It provides an opportunity to develop research skills in your undergraduate major by undertaking advanced coursework and conducting a supervised but independent research project. An Honours year adds greater depth to your undergraduate studies and is a pathway to postgraduate research courses such as the PhD.

If you have completed your bachelor’s degree (with the required level of merit) with a major in economics at the University of Sydney (or equivalent qualification), you can undertake Honours in economics or econometrics through one of the following courses. 

Undergraduate diploma 

This part-time course allows holders of a bachelor’s degree in another discipline to complete a major or minor in Economic Policy.

Non-degree study

Non-degree study allows you to take undergraduate units of study (subjects) without committing to a full award course (e.g., bachelor’s). Successfully completed units may be credited towards a relevant award course at a later date.

Cross-institutional study

If you are enrolled in an undergraduate award course at another Australian institution you can take units of study (subjects) with us for credit towards your course (subject to the approval of your home institution). 

Postgraduate coursework programs

Whether you’re an economics graduate or have no background in economics, the Master of Economics will provide you with the skills to apply economic methods and knowledge to practical, contemporary problems in business and government. The duration of the course depends on your background in economics.

If you have a strong background in economics and/or mathematics and are looking to receive advanced training or a pathway to higher degree by research study (e.g., PhD), the Master of Economic Analysis is the ideal choice. 

If you don't have time to commit to a master's or prefer to 'test the waters' first, you can take a shorter program of study in the above areas through a graduate certificate or graduate diploma.

Economics specialisations

Economics is available as a specialisation in the following courses:

Economic Policy is available as a specialisation in the Master of Public Policy.

Non-award study

Non-award study allows you to take postgraduate units of study (subjects) without committing to a full award course (e.g., master’s). Successfully completed units may be credited towards a relevant award course at a later date.

Cross-institutional study

If you are enrolled in a postgraduate award course at another Australian institution you can take units of study (subjects) with us for credit towards your course (subject to the approval of your home institution).

We offer the following higher degree by research (HDR) options to economics graduates, depending on their academic background and choice of course duration. 
 

Our people

Visiting academics

Professor Pascaline Dupas, The Kleinheinz Family Professor of International Studies, Standford University, June 2022

Dr Silvia Griselda, Bocconi, July-August 2022

Associate Professor Julie Moschion, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, August-September 2022

Soojoong Nam, Kongju National University
Visiting: January-December 

Uttam Sharma, World Bank and Asian Development Bank
Visiting: January - February

Giuseppe Cavaliere, University of Bologna
Expertise: time series econometrics; financial econometrics; statistical inference; empirical macroeconomics
Visiting: January 

Jocelyn Martel, ESSEC Business School
Expertise: corporate restructuring; insolvency; bankruptcy
Visiting: January-February 

Betsey Stevenson, University of Michigan
Expertise: the impact of public policies on the labour market
Visiting: January-February

Justin Wolfers, University of Michigan
Expertise: Labour economics; macroeconomics; social policy; behavioural economics; political economy; law and economics
Visiting: January-February

Joeri Smits, Yale University
Expertise: development economics; political economy; applied econometrics
Visiting: November 2019-April 2020

Jennifer Hunt, Rutgers University
Visiting: February-June

Shelly Lundberg, University of California, Santa Barbara

Expertise: Labour economics; economic demography
Visiting: January - March

Richard Startz, University of California, Santa Barbara
Expertise: Econometrics; macroeconomics
Visiting: January - March 

Betsey Stevenson, University of Michigan
Expertise: the impact of public policies on the labour market
Visiting: January-February 

Justin Wolfers, University of Michigan
Expertise: Labour economics; macroeconomics; social policy; behavioural economics; political economy; law and economics
Visiting: January-February 

Jocelyn Martel, ESSEC Business School
Expertise: Financial Economics
Visiting: February

John Nachbar, Washington University, St Louis
Expertise: Economic theory
Visiting: February - June 

Kevin Schnepel, Simon Fraser University 
Expertise: Crime economics, labour economics, environmental economics
Visiting: February 

Sholeh Maani, University of Auckland 
Expertise: Economics of labour markets and labour market policy; economics of education; economics of immigration; income distribution; health and housing
Visiting: February - March 

Brian Jacob, University of Michigan
Expertise: Labour economics; program evaluation; economics of education
Visiting: February 

Marco Caliendo, University of Potsdam
Expertise: Evaluation of Labour Market Programs; Job Search and Unemployment Dynamics; Entrepreneurship, Self-Employment, Start-up Subsidies; Personality Traits, Preferences, and Economic Outcomes; Applied Microeconometrics
Visiting: February - March

Simon Burgess, University of Bristol
Expertise: Labour Economics; Inequality; Poverty
Visiting: February-March

Miriam Gensowski, University of Copenhagen
Expertise: Labour economics and economics of education
Visiting: February-April

Rémi Piatek, University of Copenhagen
Expertise: Bayesian econometrics; factor modeling; mixture modeling, and computational econometrics
Visiting: February-April

Thomas Schober, Johannes Kepler University
Expertise: Health economics; applied microeconomics; policy evaluation
Visiting: March-May

Ian Walker, Lancaster University Management School 
Expertise: Applied empirical microeconomics
Visiting: March

Orla Doyle, University College Dublin
Expertise: Economics of human development; health economics; labour economics; political behaviour; early childhood development and education; developmental psychology and methods for evaluating policy interventions
Visiting: May-June

Yibai Yang, University of Macau
Expertise: economic growth; innovation; intellectual property rights; monetary and fiscal policies
Visiting: July 2019

Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)
Expertise: Applied microeconomics; economics and psychology; public economics; experimental economics
Visiting: July-August

Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas, Austin
Expertise: Time use; labour demand; discrimination; academic labour markets; labour economics
Visiting: July - September 2019

Colin Cameron, UC Davis
Expertise: econometric theory for cross-section data
Visiting: July-September 2019

Martin Huber, University of Fribourg
Expertise: Policy/treatment effect evaluation in labour, health and education economics; semi- and nonparametric microeconometric methods for causal inference
Visiting: July - August 2019

Daniel Kamhöfer, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Expertise: Returns to education; formation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills; female labor supply; drivers of physical and mental health, and; economic aspects in family planning.
Visiting: August 2019

Nigel McClung, Bank of Finland
Expertise: Macroeconomics; monetary; learning
Visiting: September 2019

Duc Minh Nguyen, Vietnam National University of Agriculture
Visiting: November-December 2019

Benjamin Wong, Monash University
Expertise: applied macroeconomics; time series analysis
Visiting: November 2019

Pablo Andrés Neumeyer, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina
Expertise: macroeconomics; international finance and development
Visiting: December 2019

Craig Riddell, University of British Columbia 
Expertise: Labour economics, labour relations; public policy
Visiting: November 2017 - January 2018 

Mathias Sinning, Australian National University 
Expertise: Labour economics; public economics; policy evaluation
Visiting: January 2018 

Jocelyn Martel, ESSEC Business School, France
Expertise: Corporate restructuring; insolvency; bankruptcy
Visiting: January - Febuary 2018 

Guillaume Frechette, New York University
Expertise: Experimental economics; industrial organization; political economy; public economics
Visiting: February 2018 

Simon Burgess, University of Bristol, IZA
Expertise: Labour economics; inequality; poverty
Visiting: February - March 2018 

Martin Kocher, University of Munich
Expertise: Behavioural and experimental economics
Visiting: February 2018 

Gavin Wood, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 
Expertise: Public policy and urban studies; housing finance; labour economics; homelessness
Visiting: February 2018 

Angus Holford, ISER, University of Essex
Expertise: Evidence-based policy; randomised control trials; peer effects; microeconometrics; family economics; education inequalities
Visiting: April 2018 

Anne Gielen, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
Expertise: Labour economics; health economics; applied microeconometrics
Visiting: May - July 2018 

Dominique Lemmermann, University of Erlangen, Nuremberg
Expertise: Development economics; economics of migration; economics of education; labour economics
Visiting: May - June 2018 

Brendan K. Beare, University of California, San Diego
Expertise: Econometric theory; financial econometrics; time series econometrics
Visiting: May - June 2018 

Daniel Tregeagle, University of California, Davis (UC Davis)
Expertise: Agricultural economics; environmental economics; natural resource economics
Visiting: June 2018 

Prabal Roy Chowdhury, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
Expertise: Game theory; industrial organization; bargaining; development economics; micro-finance; land acquisition
Visiting: June 2018 

Jana Mareckova, University of Konstanz
Expertise: High-dimensional models; regularization methods
Visiting: July - September 2018 

Orla Doyle, University College Dublin 
Expertise: Economics of human development; health economics; early child development and education; methods for evaluating policy interventions
Visiting: July - August 2018 

Christopher Jepsen, University College Dublin 
Expertise: Economics of education; labour economics; demographic economics; public economics
Visiting: June 2018 - January 2019 

Sayeed Unisa, International Institute for Population Sciences
Expertise: Mathematical demography and statistics
Visiting: August 2018

Peer Skov, Auckland University of Technology
Expertise: Public finance; applied micro-econometrics; programme and policy evaluation
Visiting: September 2018

Juliana Silva Goncalves, Queensland  University of Technology
Expertise: Behavioural economics
Visiting: September 2018

Karl Whelan, University College Dublin
Expertise: Applied macroeconomic
Visiting: November 2018

Craig Riddell, University of British Columbia
Expertise: Labour economics; labour relations; public policy
Visiting: October - December 2018

Past events and public lectures

The School of Economics celebrated the tercentenary of the birth of Adam Smith by hosting 'Adam Smith at 300' on Friday 16 June 2023.

Emeritus Professor Tony Aspromourgos delivered the lecture to a crowd of alumni, students and guests. 

Listen to the lecture: Adam Smith at 300

Watch the lecture: Adam Smith at 300

The School of Economics marked its Centenary on Wednesday 20 July 2022 with a celebratory dinner in the historic MacLaurin Hall. Australia’s first dedicated Faculty of Economics was established at the University of Sydney in 1920 and has since produced more than 20,000 graduates, including those who have gone on to be Prime Ministers, Premiers, Ministers of State, Chief Justice, Reserve Bank Governor, Secretary of Treasury, distinguished academics and leaders in business and finance.

Our celebration included a keynote presentation by alumnus Dr Steven Kennedy PSM, speeches by Professor Garry Barrett, Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson AC and VC Professor Mark Scott AO.

The School of Economics was established from 1 January 2011 to serve as the primary institutional vehicle for Economics research and education within the University of Sydney. That year the school inaugurated an annual public lecture series – the Warren Hogan Memorial Lecture – devoted to the economic analysis of public policy issues. It commemorates Warren Pat Hogan (1929–2009), Professor of Economics in the University of Sydney, 1968–1998.

  • 2022

Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT

Watch the lecture: Economic Dynamism: A Global Perspective

  • 2020

Dr Kerry Schott AO

Chair of the Australian Energy Board and Director of NBN

Watch the lecture: Economic policy amid disruption

  • 2019

Hon Chris Bowen MP, Shadow Minister for Health

  • 2018

The Hon John Winston Howard OM AC
Former Prime Minister of Australia

  • 2017

Dr Guy Debelle

Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia

  • 2016

Ms Annabel Spring (BEc Hons '92, LLB Hons '94)
Group Executive Wealth Management, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

  • 2015

Dr Martin Parkinson
Secretary, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Commonwealth of Australia

  • 2014

Mr Hugh Harley (BEc Hons '84, LLB Hons '86)

Financial Services Leader, Price Waterhouse Coopers

  • 2013

Dr John Laker (BEc Hons ’72)
Chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

  • 2012

Charles Calomiris
Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia University Graduate School of Business

  • 2011

Mr Glenn Stevens (BEc Hons ’80)
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia

Previous Seminars

Speaker

Affiliation

Title

Alastair Fraser

The University of Sydney

Why do people respond to success vs failure? Help me figure out a behavioural puzzle

 

Stefanie Schurer

The University of Sydney

The impact of a minimum unit price for alcohol on consumption and infant health: Evidence from Australia’s Northern Territory

 

Dan Hamermesh

The University of Sydney

How Slow? Why Slow?

Is Slow Productive? Fixing Slow?

Vladimir Smirnov

The University of Sydney

Conditions for efficient entry and clustering

 

Speaker

Affiliation

Title

David Kaczan

 

World Bank

 

Management and/or investment? Modelling the costs and benefits of reform in Indonesia’s fishery sector

 

Anna Chorniy

Northwestern Feinberg

 

More Money, Fewer Problems? The Effect of Foster Care Payments on Children's Quality of Care

 

Mike Gilraine

New York University

Making Teaching Last: Long-Run Value-Added

 

Vinayak Alladi

 

University of Sydney

The Impact of Background Ambiguity On Risk Taking: Evidence From The Lab

 

Pablo Guillen Alvarez

 

University of Sydney

Can mutually destructive punishment foster cooperation?

 

Stephen Cheung

 

University of Sydney

Drivers of the choice to self-manage one's investments

 

Alexandra de Gendre

 

University of Sydney

Class Rank and Sibling Spillover Effects

 

David Ubilava

 

University of Sydney

Commodity Price Shocks and the Seasonality of Conflict

 

Emilia Tjernstrom

 

University of Sydney

The Impact of Air Pollution on Mental Health:

Evidence from Australia

 

Jennifer Hunt

Rutgers University and NBER

 

Do Female--Named Employment Agencies Expand Opportunity for Women?

 

Jennifer Hunt

Rutgers University and The University of Sydney

 

Did JobKeeper Keep Australian Jobs?

 

Kevin Pugh

University of Sydney

Don’t sweat the test!

Do higher temperatures affect student test scores?

Evidence from Australia’s NAPLAN program.

 

Peter Siminski

 

University of Technology Sydney

 

Are we Richer than our Parents were?

Absolute Income Mobility in Australia

 

Rebecca McKibbin

 

University of Sydney

Does Research Save Lives? The Local Spillovers of Biomedical Research on Mortality

 

Rebecca Taylor

 

University of Sydney

If you build it, they will compost: The effects of municipal composting services on household waste disposal

 

Russell Toth

 

University of Sydney

The Impact of Liquidity Loans on

Mobile Money Volumes

 

Tiffany Ho

University of Sydney

Parental Responses to Children’s Achievement Test Results

 

Valentina Duque

University of Sydney

The Effects of Free Housing on Children

 

Andres Santos

 

University of California, Los Angeles

 

Inference for Large-Scale Linear Systems 

with Known Coefficients

 

Gary Koop

University of Strathclyde

 

Tail forecasting with multivariate Bayesian additive

regression trees

Greg Kaplan

University of Chicago

 

Markups, Labor Market Inequality and the Nature of Work

 

Jiemai Wu

The University of Sydney

 

Correlated Information Cascades

 

Mert Kimya

The University of Sydney

 

Stability of Alliance Networks

 

Nicolas de Roos

 

The University of Sydney

 

Limited Vertical and Horizontal Compatibility

 

Onur Kesten

The University of Sydney

 

Blood Allocation with Replacement Donors: A Theory of Multi-unit Exchange with Compatibility-based Preferences

Vladimir Smirnov

The University of Sydney

 

Solo or Duo? Optimal operating modes in team production

 

Mengke Wang

The University of Sydney

Decision Making under Time Pressure

 

Suraj Prasad

The University of Sydney

Managing Innovation (and Conflict) through Mediation

 

Speaker

Affiliation

Title

Pablo Guillen Alvarez

 

University of Sydney

Evaluating Advice in a Matching Mechanism with Experienced Participants: An Experimental Study of University Applicant Behaviour in Australia

 

Speaker

Affiliation

Title

Aurelien Baillon

 

Erasmus University Rotterdam

 

Leveraging Probability Distortion to Target Prevention? Evidence from a Lottery

Experiment on Cardiovascular Risk

 

Guillaume Chevillon

 

ESSEC Business School

 

Long-memory prone priors for large systems within a finite-order VAR

 

Matteo Luciani

 

Federal Reserve Board

Measuring the output gap using large datasets

 

Gadi Barlevy

 

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

Asset Price Booms and Macroeconomic Policy: a Risk-Shifting Approach

 

Jennifer Hunt

Rutgers University and NBER

 

Is Employment Polarization Informative About Wage

Inequality and Is Employment Really Polarizing?

 

*2023 QS World University Rankings for Economics & Econometrics

Head of School

Profile shot of Professor Garry Barrett

Economics Review

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School of Economics

The Sandra Cadwallader Indigenous Economics Scholarships

$50,000 yearly scholarship to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to study a Bachelor of Economics.
Eligibility and more information

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