Welcome to the Department of Economics at The Ohio State University. The Department’s 26 tenure track faculty members teach and conduct research in areas such as behavioral economics, macroeconomics, labor economics, econometrics, economic theory, monetary economics, industrial organization, and economic history. We have 10 associated faculty members, approximately 1000 undergraduate majors, and about 75 Ph.D. students.
Our faculty members regularly publish their research in top-ranked academic journals (see our faculty publication webpage), have served as presidents of academic associations, and have been elected as fellows of prestigious economic societies. This expertise translates into high quality instruction at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
The department is on the trajectory of growing in terms of size. Two new faculty members joined us this fall and one will join next year after finishing his post doc. The department is hiring four new faculty members this academic year.
Our graduate program trains Ph.D. students to produce rigorous and innovative economic research, and to become excellent teachers. Our Ph.D. graduates obtain jobs in academia, government, research institutions and industry, both in North America and abroad. To name a few, our recent PhD’s have been placed as post docs at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (some of them were placed as tenure track faculty at top universities right after; for instance, one was placed at Caltech and another was placed at Washington University in St. Louis); as tenure track faculty at New York University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Colorado, University of Massachusetts, University of Richmond, University of Alabama, and West Virginia University; at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; and at major academic institutions abroad such as University of Melbourne, Peking University, Tokyo University, European University Institute, and University of Mannheim.
The undergraduate program provides an introduction to economics for thousands of students from across the University each year. For many students, this is their first and only exposure to economics in the classroom, and we take seriously our responsibility to help students become economically literate.
Our undergraduate program provides economics majors with broad knowledge of important theoretical and empirical aspects of economics, in both BA and BS degree tracks. We encourage our majors to learn how to pose interesting economic questions and use their training to pursue answers on their own. Our undergraduate students go on to careers in government, law, education, and business, with many pursuing post-graduate degrees. For instance, a very recent student (class of 2023) is hired as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company; some recent students were admitted to top PhD programs such as Harvard, Berkeley, and Northwestern. The Department’s undergraduate counselors assist students in selecting courses, finding internships, and choosing career paths. Our Economics Advisory Board members, usually alumni of our department, mentor our undergraduate majors and sponsor scholarships and prizes.
Prospective students interested in an economics major should contact the advising office to arrange a visit with our department’s counselors in Arps Hall. Detailed information about our major program, courses, and faculty can be found by exploring our web site.
Huanxing Yang
Professor and Chair, Department of Economics