The Department of Economics, the first department within Faculty of Social Sciences, was established in 1967. Initially, it offered M.Sc. degree program which was later consolidated with introduction of M.Phil. and Ph.D. programs in 1978 and 1987 respectively. After more than four decades of public service and nation building, the Department of Economics transformed into the School of Economics (SOE) and launched the BS Economics Undergraduate 4 Years program in 2010. It is worth mentioning that School of Economics was pioneer in launching BS 4 Year undergraduate program at Quaid-i-Azam University.
Academic Program
Regular Degree Programs
SOE launched BS Economics Undergraduate 4-Years program in Fall semester 2010 along with the stable M.Phil and PhD programs. The admissions in M.Sc. Economics were discontinued in 2014. Therefore at present SOE offers BS, M.Phil and Ph.D. degree programs.
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M.Sc. Economics
- M.Sc. Economics program has remained in the limelight of School of Economics (formerly known as Department of Economics) for more than four decades. Since 1967, around 3,000 M.Sc. graduates have successfully completed placements with notable organizations all around the world including World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Labor organization, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research. A significant number of graduates are teaching in world class universities including Oxford University, McMaster University, California State University and University of Pennsylvania. Our graduates are teaching in almost all leading universities of Pakistan including QAU, LUMS, NUST, LSE, PIDE, IIUI, FJWU BZU, UOS and UOP. A significant number are serving in State Bank of Pakistan, Ministries, NGOs and commercial bank. In short our M.Sc. has been a success story. In 2010, the focus of SOE shifted to 4 year under graduate program and M.Sc. Economics program was gradually phased out. The last batch of M.Sc. passed out in the year 2016.
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B. S. Economics
BS Economics (4-year degree program) was initiated in 2010 and regular admissions on annual basis are offered ever since. SOE offers four specializations in BS Economics including Economics, Development Economics, Finance & Economics and International Economics. The intake in BS Economics program was intentionally decreased for 3rd, 4th and 5th batches and after complete phase out of M.Sc. program, we substantially increased intake in BS program. At present, 464 students are enrolled in our BS Economics program, which makes it one of the largest in country. The first batch of BS Economics passed out in 2014 and since then, four batches had passed out.
It is pertinent to mention that graduates of this program had captured a good reputation in job market. Our BS graduates are serving in leading organizations of Pakistan like State Bank of Pakistan, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd, Federal Board of Revenue, Ministry of Planning Development & Reform and various commercial banks. A significant number of BS graduates went abroad for higher studies or enrolled themselves in M.Phil or Ph.D in top most universities of Pakistan including QAU, LUMS, PIDE and NUST etc.
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M.Phil Economics
School of Economics commenced M.Phil. program in 1978. Initially the intake was quite low, but with the passage of time the enrollments in this program had soared substantially. At present, 80 students are enrolled in M.Phil Economics of SOE. So far, School of Economics had produced 464 M.Phil graduates.
Research work is evidently conducted in all major areas of economics including poverty, income inequality, monetary economics, development economics, financial economics, production economics, consumer behavior, macroeconomics, labor economics, energy economics, environmental economics, international economics and health economics. A large number of M.Phil theses are converted in research articles which are published in journals of national and international repute. Our M.Phil. Graduates are serving at various key positions in national and international organizations including Banks, Universities, NGOs’, Ministries and research organizations.
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Ph.D. Economics
Ph.D Economics program of School of Economics was introduced in 1987. Initially there was low intake in our Ph.D. program, the first Ph.D. degree was awarded in 1994. Thereafter the regular intake in this program was suspended due to shortage of faculty. In late 1990’s the program was once again strengthened and fresh intake was taken, since then the program is running successfully. So, School of Economics had awarded 34 Ph.D. degrees in diverse fields of Economics including Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics, Poverty & Income Distribution, Transport Economics, Agricultural Economics, Economics of Crime, Financial Economics, Environment Economics and Labor Economics. All Ph.D. graduates of SOE are serving the community in the best professional way. Most of them are engaged in teaching / research in different universities, few are serving in State Bank of Pakistan, United Nations, Ministries and other organizations.
At present, 67 students are enrolled in Ph.D. program of SOE, 30 are working on their research dissertations and remaining are engaged in course work.
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Certificate Programs and Workshops
Workshops on academic writing, software training, report writing and synopsis writing are also the regular features of SOE. In future we intend to start teacher training workshop and diploma for professionals and students of other universities.
- Software Training Workshop
The application of software is inevitable in econometric analysis; sound understanding of the software is essential for econometric analysis. Having realized the importance of software in Economics, School of Economics, in 2012, initiated software training workshops. A panel of experts renders training on most widely used software including STATA, SPSS, EVIEWS and RATS. This workshop is offered in summer break. The prime objective of these workshops is to foster better understanding of software and enable researchers to conduct their research in an efficient way. - Thesis Writing Workshop
SOE offers thesis writing workshops on regular bases to enhance the quality of research. The main objective of thesis writing workshops is to provide research students an opportunity to share and learn how to produce a quality research work independently and transform the same into a publication in peer reviewed journals of national and international repute. - Academic Writing Workshop
SOE also offers workshops on academic writing skills. One of major challenges in writing and publishing research is the non-availability of formal trainings for the development of scientific writing skills. This workshop aims to provide young faculty members an opportunity to learn about the academic writing skills. In addition, the workshop will provide valuable guidelines and tips for transforming research work into a publication in peer review HEC recognized journals.
- Software Training Workshop
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Co-Curricular Activities and Research Platform
School of Economic believes in multidimensional approach, along with the pure academic programs we also focus on co-curricular activities including distinguished lectures, seminars, and conferences. In this regard SOE occasionally invites the renowned economists and academicians for inspirational talks and informative seminars.
Research journals provide a venue for the publication and thus dissemination of research findings. Realizing the importance and need of research journal, the School of Economics has recently launched a research journal titled Pakistan Economic Review (PER). It is an outcome of the strong research base of School of Economics, Quaid-i-Azam University. It is initiated to disseminate the scholarly research and bridge the gap between academic research and the research needs of Industry. It also aims to serve as knowledge sharing platform for academicians and researchers. Another objective of PER is to provide guidelines to the policy makers. Pakistan Economic Review welcomes papers that are empirically oriented with solid methodological foundations based on realism and pragmatism rather than on idealism. Critical analysis of economic issues from both the heterodox viewpoint and the neo-liberalist viewpoint, in orthodox tradition, are equally encouraged. The first issue of PER is published in March 2018.
Faculty
SOE has 14 full time faculty members. It is worth mentioning that all holds a Ph.D. degree, this makes SOE the only school / department of Economics in Pakistan with 100% Ph.D. faculty. A brief profile of faculty is given in Section:2. The faculty of SOE has excellent teaching abilities with diverse specializations and rich research base. They have supervised numerous Ph.D. and M.Phil. thesis which are highly evaluated by external examiners. During last three years the faculty members have more than 100 research publications to their credit. The research articles are published in journals of national and international repute.
Facilities
Academic Support is designed to assist students in refining and strengthening the academic skills necessary for success at SOE. The SOE is equipped with state of the art departmental library and computer laboratory to facilitate students, faculty and staff for easy access to relevant information. Most of the class rooms are furnished with overhead projectors for presentations. Most recently an avant-garde seminar hall is also constructed. A faculty member, designated Incharge of Student Affairs, is available in the campus for the guidance of the students in several dimensions.