On August 1, 2009 the School of Economics began accepting applications for a new PhD in Economics, the only program of its kind in the country. The new PhD uniquely focuses on the globalization and innovation issues that interconnect three key fields of economics: environmental economics, industrial organization, and international economics. It is the sixth PhD program offered within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the PhD last year recognizing state and national need for economists who are highly trained with those specializations and who share the themes of globalization and innovation as a common language.

Many global advances and challenges lie at the intersection of the three fields. International economics encompasses economic characteristics and the rationale for the international flow of goods, services, labor, capital, and technology. Industrial organization includes analysis of the structure of industries and markets that determine business strategies for pricing, production, location, and product and process innovation, along with the regulatory and antitrust policies that constrain firms' behaviors. Polluting activities and resource depletion associated with consumption and production of market and non-market participants form the main areas of study in environmental economics. The program will prepare students to analyze the interrelated effects that these forces exert in a global and technological environment. Applied econometrics is also emphasized.

School of Economics Chair Patrick McCarthy and Professor Emilson Silva were instrumental in developing the new PhD. The program is expected to create new synergies and enhance existing relationships between the School of Economics and other Schools and Colleges within Georgia Tech.