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Entrepreneurship Coursetaking Guidance

Doctoral fellows in the entrepreneurship specialization at PRGS are advised to take a variety of substantive and methodological courses that are designed to prepare them for multidisciplinary research related to entrepreneurship public policy.

In the first year of their study, fellows in the specialization complete 10 general courses required of all PRGS fellows. The core coursework provides a critical foundation in statistics, microeconomics, political and social science, operations research, cost-benefit analysis and decision analysis.

In the second year and third years, fellows in the specialization are required to take three seminars that are essential to the understanding of the policy landscape for entrepreneurship and new business create the key tools necessary to contribute research in this area. We briefly describe the three seminars below. Further information and courses materials for these seminars can be located on the Course Materials page.

• Entrepreneurship and Public Policy provides an overview of key policy issues related to entrepreneurship and the theoretical and empirical approaches that have been used to address them. The course emphasizes opportunities for new research.
• Finance and Accounting for Policy Analysts provides students with a basic overview of finance and accounting issues relevant to new business creation, operation and growth. The course provides essential background needed to understand key legal and financial decisions that new firms face and how they are affected by policy.
• Labor Economics introduces theoretical and empirical tools necessary to examine issues related to entrepreneurship as a labor market choice as well as issues that new firms may face as employers.

Electives

Fellows in the specialization are advised to choose additional elective courses on topics that are important to one or more areas of entrepreneurship research. Examples of such courses include:

• Topical seminars
  • Economic Analysis and the Law highlights economic theories related to the impact of liability and regulation on business creation and innovation
  • Heath Economics offers theories and tools for the analysis of issues related to innovation in the health care system. It also covers health insurance regulation and the implications of the U.S. health insurance system for the national economy, including small businesses.
  • Economic Development examines issues such as economic growth, human capital, corruption and labor market conditions in poor and developing countries
  • Macroeconomics considers business cycle, (un)employment, investment, consumption in an open economy
  • Economics of Aging examines the impact of population aging on labor supply, retirement and saving. Research shows that self-employment increases as people age.
  • Incentive and Organization analyzes the role of incentives in the performance and coordination within and between organizations
  • Selected Topics in Organizational Behavior introduces theoretical framework for organizational dynamics, behavior and decision making
  • Sociology and Policy Analysis addresses the sociological impact of public policy, including issues such as differential effects on subpopulations, unanticipated consequences and welfare reform
• Advanced methods
  • Advanced econometrics I, II & III
  • Cost-benefit analysis II
  • Qualitative research II
  • Applied psychometrics

The guidelines are driven by current course offerings at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, which reflect the teaching interests and research strengths at the school and RAND Corporation where the graduate school resides. Other schools will want to emphasize different electives in providing guidance to their students. For example, other schools may offer courses that discuss the social and political determinants of entrepreneurship and innovation, such as social networking, microfinance, family enterprise and social entrepreneurship.

We hope that the course materials we have provided on core policy seminars above will be useful to schools seeking to promote interest in entrepreneurship research among their graduate students.