Master of Science in Economics
Summary
The master’s programme in Economics combines advanced analytical tools with policy applications. As an economics student at the University of Gothenburg, you will meet knowledgeable and dedicated teachers and classmates from all around the world. During the two years, you will develop your knowledge to a new level, and almost all our graduates now hold advanced positions where they make use of the skills they achieved during their studies.
About
Economics helps you analyze societal issues and enables you to offer
advice in both policy and corporate contexts. From big questions such as
climate change and world poverty, to how competitiveness affects a
firm’s profitability, to how people would alter their behaviour after a
tax cut, economics is highly relevant for many issues in society.
A broad and balanced program
Our programme balances a rigorous theoretical education and strong research connections with opportunities to learn a vocational skillset during applied courses and internships. You will develop institutional knowledge and practical tools to analyze common economic problems in markets and organizations, including issues such as taxes, externalities, public goods, competition, and information problems. Our programme provides a particular opportunity to focus on sustainability, and our collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology, also in Gothenburg, allows you to take sustainability courses from disciplines other than pure economics.
Tailor your education to your interests
The programme offers much flexibility. Through a number of elective
courses, you can specialize in demanding theoretical courses that
prepare you for PhD studies, or choose more applied courses. Our
electives present you with several subfields within economics, such as
environmental, development, and behavioural economics. The possibility
to choose electives outside of economics provides an opportunity to
tailor your education to complement your economic skillset with broader
expertise in sustainability, statistics, or business. We also offer
internship opportunities.
Actively engaged teachers
The department within Economics is ranked among the top 100 in the world and is number 2 in Sweden in terms of research, with teachers actively engaged within and outside the university. This active engagement ensures that our
programme corresponds to state-of-the-art research. Additionally, our
teachers’ relations with society ensure that the tools they teach are
relevant for analysis and decision support in a range of contexts,
including private firms, international organizations, and the public
sector. Actively using the type of skills you will learn during the
programme, our teachers advise multinational pharmaceutical companies on
pricing, serve as competition law judges, work with the World Bank, and
serve in the IPCC.
International Environment
Economics is an international field, and with that comes an international job
market once you have your degree. In our programme, you will meet
students and teachers from all over the world, and may gain even more
international experience by choosing to go abroad for an exchange
semester at any of our many partner universities. A special opportunity
is our Double Degree agreements. If you apply for a Double Degree, you will study
one year in Gothenburg and one year abroad, receiving a full degree from
each university. More programme specific information about possibilities to study abroad can be found under Exchange opportunities.
Programme structure and content
The first semester covers the fundamentals of economic analysis and
consists of mandatory core courses in Math, Econometrics, and Micro- and Maceoeconomics.
During the second and third semesters, most courses are elective. Our large variety of elective courses provides an opportunity to tailor your education to your particular interest, for example focusing on core economic questions or gaining expertise in sustainability issues. We offer both research-oriented courses and more practice-oriented ones. You can also choose to do an internship with a firm or organization.
The fourth semester is dedicated to your master´s thesis, where you apply your acquired skills to analyze relevant economic questions and have the opportunity to reflect the specialization you built throughout previous semesters.
Who should apply?
- Are you concerned with sustainability and interested in how economics can help us face future sustainability challenges?
- Do you want to find real solutions to important problems rather than relying on quick fixes?
- Are you curious, analytical, and hardworking and want to be challenged to further develop your skillset in economics?
Then our master’s programme in Economics will suit you perfectly!
Prerequisites and selection
Requirements
General Entrance Requirements: A Bachelor's degree (equivalent to 180 ECTS credits) from an internationally recognized university and English 6/English B from Swedish upper secondary school or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test. For more information about general entrance requirements see www.universityadmissions.se (English) and www.antagning.se (Swedish). Programme specific entrance requirements: A) 60 credits in economics including 15 credits in microeconomics (of which at least 7,5 credits on intermediate level) and 7,5 credits in econometrics or equivalent, and a minimum of 15 credits in statistics or 7,5 credits in statistics and 7,5 credits in quantitative methods and/or mathematics. The credits in econometrics or equivalent may be included in the general statistics requirement or in addition to this. or B) a Bachelor's Degree in mathematics or in an engineering programme with a quantitative or mathematical orientation.
Selection
Group 1 (prioritized)
Group 1 is applicants with a GMAT score. Applicants are ranked by their GMAT score result. For further information: minimum accepted GMAT score, last day to write test etc.
It is not mandatory to submit a GMAT score, but having a GMAT score that reaches the minimum will give you priority in the admission. Applicants with test results that do not meet the minimum are placed in selection group 2.
Group 2 (secondary)
Group 2 is applicants ranked by number of university credits (ECTS credits). Applicants are ranked by number of credits reported on the last day for application (max. 165 ECTS credits).
If several applicants have the same number of credits the selection of students is made by ballot.
After graduation
Graduates of the programme receive a degree of Master of Science in Economics.
Reflecting the scope of the programme, our graduates find positions within a broad
range of private industries and public and international organizations,
such as:
- economists or project leaders at Riksbanken, Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, and private consultancy firms
- environmental economists at COWI AB and Havs- och Vattenmyndigheten
- programme officer at UN Environment
- health economists at TLV, Folkhälsomyndigheten, and Region Västra Götaland
- financial advisors at Danske Bank and Nordea and analysts at Skolinspektionen, Statistic Sweden, and Försäkringskassan
- continued studies at a doctorate level for academic careers
More information about after graduation
Facilities
The School of Business, Economics and Law is located at one end of Vasagatan, closest to Haga, and at Viktoriagatan 13. The building at Vasagatan houses the Economics Library, which is several floors high and offers many study places. The building is usually nicknamed "Handels".
More information about facilities
Exchange opportunities
Many of our students choose to go on exchange. By studying abroad,
you will be given the opportunity to experience a new academic
environment, new culture and gain new experiences and perspectives. The
School of Business, Economics and Law and the University of Gothenburg
collaborate with a large number of partner universities all over the
world. Please visit International office.
Students from the master's programme in Economics have the
opportunity to take part in a Double Degree programme at the University of
Rome Tor Vegata, Italy, or Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. A Double
Degree Programme means that one year of your master's programme will
be spent at the partner university and you will be awarded degrees from
both universities.
