The PhD program is a research-oriented degree program. It is designed to enable students to concentrate in a specialized field, and to provide them the opportunity to do original, fundamental research in that field. The program prepares students for a teaching and/or research career in universities, research institutions, businesses and in the government. 

Prospective candidates should own a (anticipatory) master’s degree and take a two-part admission test in order to get admitted to the program. The first part consists of examinations of Intermediate Microeconomics and Intermediate Macroeconomics, then those who passed the exams can proceed to the interview stage. Each doctoral student has a thesis supervisor who oversees the student's research. A full-time student making good progress is expected to be able to complete the PhD degree in three years. The first two years of the programs will normally be devoted to coursework.  Courses taken in the first year are Advanced Microeconomics, Advanced Macroeconomic, Advanced Econometrics, Mathematical economics, and elective courses. In the second year, students are required to take specialized courses and undertake research with the guidance of the supervisor. In the final year, students are required to submit a thesis and take the oral defense of the thesis for graduation. In circumstances that a candidate fails to get enough class credits or cannot complete the Ph.D. dissertation, a grace time is arranged. But the maximum duration of the program is 6 years.