Yale Department of Economics

What Yale Department of Economics does

The Yale Department of Economics is an academic department within Yale University, a private Ivy League research university founded in 1701 and based at 28 Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. It trains doctoral students through its Ph.D. program, offers the IDE-MA master's degree in International and Development Economics, and serves undergraduates majoring in economics. Its research portfolio spans development, labor, macroeconomics, economic theory, and increasingly health, environmental, and AI economics. Six wholly affiliated research centers — the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, the Economic Growth Center, the Tobin Center for Economic Policy, CADMY, Inclusion Economics, and Y-RISE — drive a continuous pipeline of discussion papers, field experiments, and policy evaluations in countries including India, China, Chile, Peru, and Ghana.

The department's operating model is structured around three primary revenue streams: federal and private research grants from organizations such as the NSF and NIH, tuition and fees from its degree programs backed by the Yale endowment (Yale's endowment was approximately $41 billion as of 2024), and internal university allocations. Its go-to-market motion is event-driven and reputation-led: it recruits prospective Ph.D., master's, and undergraduate students via Yale's central admissions funnel, supplemented by conferences, workshops, and the annual GE Conference. Marketing channels lean heavily on the official website, top-tier journal publications (American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy), and a social media presence via @YaleEconomics and @YaleCowles on X.

The department is led by senior faculty including Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics Rohini Pande, who directs the Economic Growth Center and Inclusion Economics, and Cowles Professor Orazio Attanasio, whose work spans household behavior, development economics, and human capital. Strategic and implementation partnerships include collaborations with EPIC-India, J-PAL South Asia, and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board on field experiments such as the Surat emissions trading market. Student outcomes include placement in academic and research positions at top institutions, and pre-doctoral research training delivered to approximately 50 scholars annually through the Tobin Center Pre-Doctoral Fellows Program.

Name

Yale Department of Economics

Legal name

Yale University - Department of Economics

Website

https://economics.yale.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1701

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Yale Department of Economics is an academic unit within Yale University that trains Ph.D., master's, and undergraduate students in economics while conducting frontier research through six affiliated centers including the Cowles Foundation, Economic Growth Center, and Tobin Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Economics

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Finance, Accounting & Economics Schools (EDAHAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Economics, Finance & Funding Policy Research (EDADADAE), STEM-Focused Research Universities (Engineering & Applied Sciences) (EDAHABAB)

Keywords

• Higher education
• Economics research
• Graduate programs
• Academic research
• Policy analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

New Haven

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Funding: The department receives federal and private research grants from organizations such as NSF, NIH, and various foundations to support faculty research activities and graduate student training.
2. Educational Programs: Tuition and fees from Ph.D., Master's (IDE-MA), and undergraduate economics programs, supported by university endowment and financial aid.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Yale Department of Economics provides graduate and undergraduate economics education through its Ph.D. program, the International and Development Economics Master's (IDE-MA) program, and the undergraduate economics major. It conducts empirical and theoretical economic research through affiliated centers (Cowles Foundation, Economic Growth Center, Tobin Center for Economic Policy, CADMY, and Y-RISE) and trains the next generation of academic economists through research seminars, workshops, and faculty mentorship.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ph.D. Program in Economics Doctoral program providing rigorous graduate training in economic theory, econometrics, and field courses, with original dissertation research and faculty mentorship. Designed for aspiring research economists pursuing academic careers, with strong placement record at top universities and research institutions.
• IDE-MA Program (International and Development Economics Master's) Master's program providing training in international and development economics, including applied economics skills, policy analysis, and development research methods. Housed at the Economic Growth Center.
• Undergraduate Economics Program Undergraduate major and courses in economics for Yale College students, providing economic theory foundation, quantitative skills, senior essay opportunities, and double major options.
• Tobin Center / Economics Pre-Doctoral Fellows Program Pre-doctoral fellowship program hosting approximately 50 scholars from around the world annually. Provides research training and preparation for Ph.D. programs in economics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Strong Ph.D. placement outcomes at top academic institutions and research organizations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.

• Cowles Foundation for Research in EconomicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Cowles Foundation is a major research center affiliated with the department, conducting and encouraging research in economics. It sponsors visiting faculty, post-doctoral fellows, conferences, and provides research resources including discussion paper series.
• Economic Growth Center (EGC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEGC supports economic advancement of poor and marginalized people in developing countries through policy-engaged research. It houses the IDE Masters program and numerous research initiatives including Inclusion Economics and Climate, Energy & Growth initiatives.
• Tobin Center for Economic PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Tobin Center advances research and policy to strengthen families, communities, and the nation. It hosts the Pre-Doctoral Fellows Program with approximately 50 scholars annually.
• Center for Algorithms, Data, and Market Design at Yale (CADMY)keyTechnology or IntegrationCADMY serves as a cutting-edge research hub for faculty and graduate students working at the intersection of economics, computer science, and data science.
• Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerY-RISE advances research on the effects of policy interventions when delivered at scale, focusing on implementation science and policy evaluation.
• Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC-India)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on emissions trading and air pollution policy in India, with Yale faculty Nicholas Ryan and Rohini Pande working with EPIC-India researchers.
• J-PAL South AsiakeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on policy evaluations and research scaling, including funding from J-PAL's King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI), SARWA, and ASPIRE programs.
• Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB)keyImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCollaborated with EGC researchers to design and experimentally evaluate the world's first particulate-matter emissions market in Surat, India.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NYU Department of Economics: NYU Economics is a top-tier peer with strengths overlapping Yale's in development, urban, and applied microeconomics, and a similar private-university setting with a large Ph.D. cohort.
• London School of Economics Department of Economics: LSE's economics department is a leading international peer with comparable Ph.D., MSc, and undergraduate programs, similarly strong publication records in top-five journals, and an overlapping global applicant pool.
• Northwestern Department of Economics: Northwestern Economics is a direct peer with a top-15 ranked Ph.D. program, strong placement outcomes, and an overlapping set of research strengths in development, labor, and applied microeconomics.
• Columbia Department of Economics: Columbia's economics department is a direct peer at an Ivy League research university with overlapping strengths in development, labor, and macroeconomics and a similar Ph.D./undergraduate program structure.
• University of Chicago Department of Economics: Chicago Economics is a top global peer with a comparable Ph.D. program, a similarly large faculty, and historic leadership in economic theory and empirical research; it competes directly with Yale for the same applicant pool and journal placements.
• Harvard Department of Economics: Harvard's economics department is the closest direct peer — a top-5 global economics department at an Ivy League private research university offering Ph.D., undergraduate, and master's programs, publishing in the same top-five journals, and operating major affiliated research centers.
• UC Berkeley Department of Economics: Berkeley Economics is a leading public-university peer with a top-ranked Ph.D. program, comparable faculty publishing in the leading economics journals, and similarly deep affiliations with policy and development research centers.
• MIT Department of Economics: MIT Economics is a leading peer department at a private research university with a comparable Ph.D. program, top-tier faculty publishing in AER/QJE/Econometrica/JPE, and strong placement at academic institutions and central banks.
• Princeton Department of Economics: Princeton's economics department is a direct peer — an Ivy League department with a small, elite Ph.D. program, a strong publication record in the top-five journals, and a similar faculty-to-student ratio.
• Stanford Department of Economics: Stanford Economics is a top-tier peer with overlapping research strengths in development, labor, and macroeconomics, comparable Ph.D. placement outcomes, and similarly strong ties to affiliated policy research centers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yaleeconomics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yale-department-of-economics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Yale Department of Economics