Agricultural Economics (Ph.D.)

Location(s): Manhattan Campus

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Degree Requirements

The Ph.D. program is offered through the Department of Agricultural Economics graduate program and is operated in cooperation with the Department of Economics. Students earn a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics upon completion of the program. In the program, students will study economic theory, knowledge in research methodology, general agricultural economics and a specialty branch including: agribusiness, international development, natural resources, price analysis/marketing, production/farm management/finance, community and regional economics, trade and policy. A Ph.D. program of study must have at least 60 credit hours of graduate course work (the credit received for writing an M. S. thesis or report may be used to help meet the 60 credit hour requirements), and 30 hours of research credits are required for the written Ph.D. dissertation. A minimum of 24 credit hours of course work on the program of study must be taken at Kansas State University.

The program of study in agricultural economics shall include course work in four branches: economic theory, research methodology, general agricultural economics, and a specialty branch in agricultural economics. The student may choose to list a minor field in addition.

After completing 12 hours of microeconomics and macroeconomics, the student takes qualifying examinations in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. After successfully completing the qualifying examinations and the required courses in agricultural economics, the student takes the preliminary examination in general agricultural economics. After passing the preliminary examination the student is admitted to candidacy.

The candidate prepares a written dissertation proposal including an identification of the problem, a review of relevant literature, and an outline of proposed research procedures to be used. The candidate must satisfactorily defend the proposal in a seminar at least six months before the final Ph.D. oral in which the candidate defends the dissertation.

The course requirements are:

Economic Theory (15 Credits)

ECON 735 - Mathematical Economics Credits: 3
ECON 805 - Macroeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 905 - Macroeconomic Theory II Credits: 3
ECON 940 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 945 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory II Credits: 3

Research Methodology (9 credit hours)

AGEC 901 - Research Methods in Economics Credits: 3
AGEC 936 - Quantitative Topics in Agricultural Economics Credits: 3
ECON 930 - Econometrics II Credits: 3

Additional Required Agricultural Economics Courses (6 credit hours)

AGEC 905 - Agricultural Demand and Commodity Marketing Credits: 3
AGEC 923 - Economics of Agricultural Production Credits: 3

Specialty Area (6 credit hours)

Requirements for each Specialty Area:

Agribusiness

Two of the following with at least one from AGEC 880 or AGEC 890:

AGEC 880 - Agribusiness Industry Structures Credits: 3
AGEC 890 - Advanced Food and Agribusiness Management Credits: 3
FINAN 815 - Foundations of Finance Credits: 3
MANGT 820 - Managing Organizational Behavior Credits: 3
MKTG 810 - Marketing Concepts and Research Credits: 3
ECON 947 - Industrial Organization Credits: 3

Community and Regional Economics

Two of the following:

AGEC 955 - Independent Study of Advanced Topics in Agricultural Economics Credits: 1-18
ECON 832 - Public Sector Analysis Credits: 3
ECON 925 - Location of Economic Activities Credits: 3
ECON 955 - Theory and Methods of Regional Economic Analysis Credits: 3
SOCIO 832 - Sociology of Community Credits: 3

International Development/Trade/Policy

Two of the following:

AGEC 815 - International Agricultural Development Credits: 3
AGEC 840 - International Markets and Agricultural Trade Credits: 3
AGEC 810 - Price, Income and Trade Policies in Agriculture Credits: 3
ECON 981 - International Trade Theory and Policy Credits: 3

Applied Econometrics

Two of the following:

AGEC 955 - Independent Study of Advanced Topics in Agricultural Economics Credits: 1-18
ECON 910 - Topics in Macroeconomics Credits: 3
ECON 935 - Time Series Econometrics Credits: 3
ECON 938 - Microeconometrics Credits: 3
ECON 955 - Theory and Methods of Regional Economic Analysis Credits: 3

General Electives* (700-level and higher) (18 credit hours)

*Must include the following M.S. level courses or their equivalent:

AGEC 712 - Optimization Techniques for Agricultural Economics Credits: 3
AGEC 805 - Agricultural Marketing Credits: 3
AGEC 823 - Production Economics II Credits: 3
ECON 830 - Econometrics I Credits: 3
STAT 706 - Basic Elements of Statistical Theory Credits: 3

Total course credit hours (60)

Dissertation credit hours (30)

Total credit hours required for the Ph.D. (90)

Note

The following courses developed for the Masters of Agribusiness are not allowed on a student’s program of study: AGEC 700 , AGEC 701 , AGEC 713 , AGEC 720 , AGEC 730 , AGEC 760 , AGEC 761 , and AGEC 770 .

Agricultural Economics (Ph.D.)

Location(s): Manhattan Campus

Degree Requirements

Economic Theory (15 Credits)

Research Methodology (9 credit hours)

Additional Required Agricultural Economics Courses (6 credit hours)

Specialty Area (6 credit hours)

Agribusiness

Community and Regional Economics

International Development/Trade/Policy

Natural Resources

Price Analysis/Marketing

Production/Farm Management/Finance

Applied Econometrics

General Electives* (700-level and higher) (18 credit hours)

Total course credit hours (60)

Dissertation credit hours (30)

Total credit hours required for the Ph.D. (90)

Note