Financial Economics

The Master of Arts in Financial Economics degree provides advanced training in economics and finance to students interested in careers involving quantitative analysis in various areas of finance. The program provides a solid foundation in micro- and macroeconomic theory to ensure that graduates have the conceptual tools needed to develop sound research designs and understand the role of financial markets and institutions within the economy. The program combines courses in the M.A. program in Economics and the M.B.A. program in the Maine Business School. The ability to communicate clearly is emphasized throughout the program.

The program offers the student preparation for a variety of career paths. Students, with the assistance of their advisor design their programs of study for:

Employment in business or government, or
Continuing work on advanced degrees in economics, law, finance, business administration, and other areas.

Students are required to work closely with their advisor on matters of course selection.

The School offers a series of courses which reflect the wide scope of contemporary economics and the various specializations of the faculty. From year to year, the content of some courses will vary in accordance with changes in the significance of policy questions at the state, national, and international levels, and with faculty research interests.

Admission Requirements

An undergraduate degree in economics or a related field is desirable, but is not essential for admission to this program. The School is much more concerned with the applicant’s capacity for graduate study and the quality of previous work. However, there are certain prerequisites that the student is required to complete before entering the graduate program. These prerequisites are:

Intermediate microeconomic theory (equivalent to UM’s ECO 420)
Statistics (equivalent to UM’s MAT 215 or 232); Econometrics (equivalent to UM’s ECO 485) is strongly recommended
Calculus (equivalent to UM’s MAT 115, 126, or 151)
Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (equivalent to UM’s ECO 321)

The M.A. in Financial Economics also requires basic courses in accounting and business finance. Other general admission criteria are described in the general section of this catalog.

Requirements

Successful completion of 30 credit hours of course work is required for the Masters degree. Graduate students in this program are required to complete the following sequence of courses:

BUA 651 - Financial Management Credits: 3
ECO 511 - Macroeconomic Theory Credits: 3
ECO 514 - Microeconomic Theory Credits: 3
ECO 524 - Advanced International Finance Credits: 3
ECO 530 - Econometrics Credits: 3
ECO 531 - Advanced Econometrics and Applications Credits: 3
Two additional courses in economics are required and two courses are required from the following:

• BUA 652 - Management of Financial Institutions Credits: 3

• BUA 653 - Investment Management Credits: 3

• BUA 654 - Futures and Options Markets Credits: 3

Each graduate student who pursues one of the graduate programs administered by the School must pass an oral examination near the end of the student’s program.

Student Support

The School has a number of research and teaching assistantships available for qualified students on a competitive basis. Efforts are made to match the student’s interests and background with the needs of the School. For details on assistantships and for other information, contact Mario Teisl, Graduate Coordinator, School of Economics via email at teisl@maine.edu. Further information can be found on the web at http://www.umaine.edu/soe/

Graduate Faculty

Kathleen Bell, Ph.D. (University of Maryland, 1997), Associate Professor. Environmental Economics, land economics, spatial economics, regional and public economics.

Karen J. Buhr, Ph.D. (Carleton University, 2006), Assistant Professor. Health economics, labor economics.

Hsiang-Tai Cheng, Ph.D. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1985), Associate Professor. Marketing, food demand, econometrics.

Todd Gabe, Ph.D. (Ohio State University, 1999), Associate Professor. Regional and community economic development, public finance.

Gary L. Hunt, Ph.D. (University of Colorado-Boulder, 1984), Professor. Demographic and spatial economics, econometrics, mathematical modeling.

Adrienne Kearney, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University, 1992), Associate Professor. Monetary theory and policy, macroeconomics, international finance.

James McConnon, Ph.D. (Iowa State University, 1989), Associate Professor. Regional and community economic development, innovation, small business management.

Stephen Reiling, Ph.D. (Oregon State University, 1976), Professor. Recreation economics, non-market valuation, economic impact, policies affecting rural Maine.

Jonathan Rubin, Ph.D. (University of California-Davis, 1993), Professor. Environmental regulation and design, economics of alternative transportation fuels and vehicles, economics of greenhouse gas reductions.

Linda Silka, Ph.D. (University of Kansas, 1978, Professor and Director, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. Research partnerships, research ethics, grant writing, program evaluation, community-university partnerships.

Stewart Smith, Ph.D. (University of Connecticut, 1997), Professor. Sustainable agriculture systems, local food networks.

Mario Teisl, (Ph.D. (University of Maryland, 1997), Professor. Information economics, food safety, environmental and social marketing, environmental economics.

Philip Trostel, Ph.D. (Texas A & M University, 1991), Professor. Human capital and savings, public economics, labor economics.

Tim Waring, Ph.D. (University of California, Davis, 2010), Assistant Professor. Sustainability, human cooperation, human cultural evolution, evolutionary ecology.