Curriculum Structure
| Requirements | Courses | Credits |
| Core | 3 | 9 |
| Major Courses | 3 | 9 |
| Dissertation | - | 36 |
| Total | 6 | 54 |
The tentative time table of the Ph.D. Program is as follows:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|
Core Courses
(9 Credits)
+
Major Courses
(9 Credits)
|
Dissertation
(18 Credits)
|
Dissertation
(18 Credits)
|
|
|
Summer Qualifying Examination
|
Proposal Defense
|
Dissertation Defense
|
|
| Present papers at international conferences with action within the second year (Full paper conference proceeding) | |||
| Part of the thesis must be accepted for publication in an international journal within the third year | |||
1) Core Courses
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB801 | Philosophy and Research Design |
| 2. | DB802 | Advanced Statistics and Probability Theory |
| 3. | DB803 | Econometrics |
2) Major Courses
Accounting Series:
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB 811 | Empirical Research in Accounting |
| 2. | DB 812 | Behavioral Research in Accounting |
| 3. | DB 813 | Selected Topics in Accounting 1 |
Finance Series:
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB 821 | Financial Economics |
| 2. | DB 822 | Corporate Finance |
| 3. | DB 823 | Empirical Research in Finance |
Marketing Series:
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB 831 | Marketing Theory |
| 2. | DB 832 | Empirical Research in Marketing |
| 3. | DB 833 | Contemporary Research in Marketing |
Management Series:
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB 841 | Micro-organization Behavior |
| 2. | DB 842 | Macro-organization Behavior |
| 3. | DB 843 | Selected Topics in Management |
Courses Descriptions:
| No. | Courses | Course Descriptions |
| 1. | DB 801 Philosophy and Research Design | Philosophy of Science investigates the different branches of science and its underlying structure. Central questions are "What is science?" and "What is not science?", as well as "What characterizes science?" and "How to achieve scientific progress?". Philosophy of science is a way of describing how to conduct research, and a way of deciding research design. This course will examine the objectivity of science, the nature of scientific method, the status of scientific knowledge, and the character of scientific explanation. This course is an introduction on how to design social science research as well as to prepare students to develop their own research projects for a dissertation. The course is a blend of philosophy of social science and research design. The aim of this course is to introduce students to different types of research designs, and the strengths and limitations of each approach. |
| 2. | DB 802 Advanced Statistics and Probability Theory | Calculus. Vector and Matrix. Linear Algebra. Multivariate Calculus. Multivariate Optimization. Constrained Optimization. Basic combinatorics: Counting principle, permutations, combinations. Basic concepts: Sample spaces, events, basic axioms and theorems of probability, finite sample spaces with equally likely probabilities. Conditional probability: Reduced sample space, independence, Bayes' Theorem. Random variables: Discrete and continuous random variables, discrete probability functions and continuous probability density functions, distribution functions, expectation, variance, functions of random variables. Special distributions: Bernoulli, Binomial, Poisson, and Geometric discrete random variables. Uniform, Normal, and Exponential continuous random variables. Approximation of Binomial by Poisson or Normal. Jointly distributed random variables: Joint distribution functions, independence, conditional distributions, expectation, covariance. Sums of independent random variables: expectation, variance. Inequalities and Limit theorems: Markov's and Chebyshev's inequalities, Weak and Strong Law of Large Numbers, Central Limit Theorem. Hypothesis testing (Parametric and Non-Parametric); Errors and power. |
| 3. | DB 803 Econometrics | Econometric methods. Multiple regression models. Econometric problems arising from the violation of classical linear regression model assumptions and solutions. Estimation methods such as Ordinary least squares and Generalized least squares. System equation estimation methods. Maximum likelihood estimation methods. The Generalized method of moments. |
| 4. | DB 811 Empirical Research in Accounting | This seminar explores accounting research using empirical-archival methods, primarily with respect to the role of financial accounting relation between information content of accounting information and the behavior of security prices, the role of accounting disclosures on the capital market, earnings management, and other related topics. |
| 5. | DB 812 Behavioral Research in Accounting | Behavioral decision research in accounting which draws heavily from psychology of judgment and choice. The focus will be on individual decision-making under uncertainty including judgment heuristics and biases, decision framing, risk preferences and others. |
| 6. | DB 813 Selected Topics in Accounting 1 | Specialized topics in Accounting which may be related to the doctoral students’ research. |
| 7. | DB 821 Financial Economics | Foundations of modern financial economics; individuals’ consumption and portfolio decisions under uncertainty. Topics include expected utility theory, agency problems, information and signaling. For theory of macrofinance, emphasis will be on financial intermediation, aggregation, and contingent claims. |
| 8. | DB 822 Corporate Finance | Principle of intertemporal choice, alternative valuation models, investor preferences for corporate financial decisions in complete and incomplete markets, unanimity conditions, the Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorems and the role of firm resource allocation, the impact of dividends and financial decisions on firm valuation in perfect and imperfect markets, and theory of firms and agency costs. |
| 9. | DB 823 Empirical Research in Finance | Review of major literature in empirical finance. Learn how to transform theoretical models into testable empirical models such as asset pricing or term structure models. Understand the limitation of empirical models and learn how to apply new computational techniques to study finance. |
| 10. | DB 831 Marketing Theory | This course studies theoretical aspects in marketing from foundation to major theories as well as related contemporary and potential issues that may broaden behavioral and managerial marketing beyond the marketing realm. |
| 11. | DB 832 Empirical Research in Marketing | This course introduces students to the key tools of econometric analysis: Generalized Regression Models; Instrumental Variables; Simultaneous Equation Models; Least Square Estimators; Maximum Likelihood Estimators; Time Series Models; Panel Data Econometrics; Discrete Choice Models. |
| 12. | DB 833 Contemporary Research in Marketing | This course analyzes and discusses various aspects of contemporary and potential research in marketing focusing on, but not limited to, consumer behavior. The content also introduces popular and alternative methodologies, including experimental and qualitative research, and explores new areas of marketing such as technology and sustainability. |
| 13. | DB 841 Micro-Organization Behavior | Cognition; Decision-making; Learning; Motivation; Negotiation and bargaining; Cooperation and altruism; Emotions; Impression management; Group processes; Stereotyping and injustice; Power and influence. |
| 14. | DB 842 Macro-Organization Behavior | Contingency theory; Resource dependence theory; Ecological theory; Institutional theory; Organizational economics; Corporate governance; Social networks. |
| 15. | DB 843 Selected Topics in Management I | Specialized topics in Management which may be related to the doctoral students’ research |
| 16. | DB 851 Selected Topics in Accounting 2 | Specialized topics in Accounting which may be related to the doctoral students’ research. |
| 17. | DB 852 Selected Topics in Finance | Specialized topics in Financial which may be related to the doctoral students’ research. |
| 18. | DB 853 Selected Topics in Marketing | Specialized topics in Marketing which may be related to the doctoral students’ research. |
| 19. | DB 854 Selected Topics in Management 2 | Specialized topics in Management which may be related to the doctoral students’ research. |
| 20. | DB 900 Dissertation | Research project and procedure formulation leading to new body of knowledge in business administration under the supervision of the dissertation advisor and committee, dissertation writing and presentation, research report writing for dissemination, ethics in research and academic publication. |
3) Elective Courses
Students can choose to take additional courses and must submit to the Program Committee for approval.
4) Dissertation
In this phase, students develop their dissertation topic, defend their dissertation proposal, and then complete the dissertation. The Total of 36 credits must be registered for a dissertation.
There are four majors – Accounting, Finance, Marketing and Management.
Accounting
Focus on behavioral research in accounting, empirical research in accounting, contemporary behavioral research in accounting and contemporary empirical research in accounting.
Finance
Concentrate on corporate finance, financial institutions, investment, and security analysis. Related courses are also available in economics.
Marketing
Cover a wide range of issues including marketing theories, behavioral research in marketing, empirical research in marketing, contemporary behavioral research in marketing, and contemporary empirical research in marketing.
Management
Cover wide range of issues including micro and macro organizational behavior and contemporary research in management.
