Real Estate (Business) & Economics—Joint Degree
Learn how to applyAbout the Program
The joint Wisconsin PhD Program in urban real estate and economics trains researchers for tenure-track positions at the nexus of these two fields. Specializing in this area will provide you with the opportunity to expand your academic career path to both economics and real estate departments at top universities.
The program stresses high-quality research with a focus on developing the core basics of economics, then specialization in areas of real estate and economics. Students in the joint program are required to take a common curriculum and to meet all requirements of both the Economics and Real Estate PhD programs.
Upon graduation, students will obtain both a Ph.D. degree from the Economics Department and a Ph.D. degree from the Wisconsin School of Business.
Core areas of research
Student research is supported by faculty in the following core areas:
- Urban economics
- Market microstructure
- Household finance
- Real estate finance
- Environmental economics
- Public economics
- Financial economics
- Industrial organization
Academic Requirements
All students must meet the general PhD requirements of the UW–Madison Graduate School, the Department of Economics, and the Wisconsin School of Business. Students should have the following background to be admitted:
- Completed and performed well in basic undergraduate economics or real estate courses
- Mathematics preparation should include multivariate calculus, elementary probability, statistics, and regression analysis
- One course in linear algebra
- Three-course sequence in calculus, including multivariate calculus*
- One course in mathematical statistics*
- Any additional background in mathematics and graduate-level economics courses can ease the transition into the program
Program Coursework
Year 1
- Economics core: microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics
Summer
- Economics micro and macro comprehensive exams
Year 2
- Urban economics and real estate finance
- Real estate workshops where each student presents their preliminary research in front of the real estate faculty
- Three other classes in economics
- Presentation of preliminary research in front of the economics faculty
Summer
- Real estate comprehensive exam
Year 3
- Two classes in economics and additional workshops with a focus on completing a research paper on an urban, real estate or economics topic. The topic may be either theoretical or empirical, and should contain elements of original research that extend the existing literature.
Advancement to Dissertator Status – Requirements
- Successful completion of both economics and real estate comprehensive exams.
- Successful completion of a sole-authored paper requirement.
Milestone Requirements
Each milestone requirement–field paper, three-signature proposal, and dissertation committee—must include at least one faculty member from both the economics and the real estate department. A single dissertation, approved by members of both departments, is sufficient to fulfill the dissertation requirement.
Program Faculty
Real Estate
Alina Arefeva
Research interests:
- Real estate economics
- Finance
- Macroeconomics
- Search frictions on housing prices
Yongheng Deng
Research interests:
- Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets
- Mortgage and Asset-Backed Security
- Competing Risks of Mortgage Prepayment and Default
- Economics of Sustainable Development
- Asian Real Estate and Housing Market
Lu Han
Research interests:
- Real estate market microstructure
- Empirical industrial organization
- Urban and environmental economics
- Housing and mortgage policies
Timothy Riddiough
Research interests:
- Mortgage finance and securitization
- Real estate valuation and investment
- Capital structure and contracting
- REITs
Chris Timmins
Research interests:
- Environmental Economics
- Urban Economics
- Public Economics
Abdullah Yavas
Research interests:
- Mortgage contracts
- Brokerage
- Economics of information and uncertainty
- Experimental economics
- Monetary policy
Dayin Zhang
Research interests:
- Household Finance
- Financial Intermediation
- Real Estate Finance
- Macroeconomics
Economics
Panle Barwick
Fields: Industrial Organization, Environmental
Carter Braxton
Fields: Macroeconomics, Labor Economics, Consumer Finance
Jesse Gregory
Fields: Labor Economics, Urban
Jean-Francois Houde
Fields: Industrial Organization, Banking
John Kennan
Fields: Labor, Migration
Paolo Martellini
Fields: Macroeconomics, Labor, Urban
Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero
Fields : Public Economics, Urban
Finance
P. Dean Corbae
Research interests:
- Consumer credit
- Bankruptcy
- Foreclosures
- Banking industry dynamics
Anthony DeFusco
Research interests:
- Household Finance
- Financial Regulation
- Real Estate Finance
- Applied Microeconomics
Erik Mayer
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Erwan Quintin
Research interests:
- Growth and development economics
- Financial economics
- Macroeconomics
Jason Allen
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