Curriculum

The overall characteristics of the Graduate School are based on its status as an academic school. As such, it is not a professional school for developing specific expertise, but an institution that aims to cultivate the advanced research skills to conduct appropriate analysis and in-depth study of economic phenomena in any period or context.

To this end, the school places individualized instruction of small groups of graduate students at the heart of its educational approach. However, that does not mean that the Graduate School aims only to develop professional researchers. Inheriting the educational tradition of Keio University, one of its major objectives is to equip students with advanced research skills so that they can play an active role in the real world.

The fields of study at our graduate school are divided into 5 areas and 10 specialities.

1. Economic Theory : Microeconomics; Macroeconomics; Game Theory, etc.

2. Econometrics : Econometrics; Bayesian Statistics; Time Series Analysis, etc.

3. History of Economic and Social Thought : History of Economic Thought; History of Social Thought, etc.

4. Economic History : Economic History of Europe and North America; Economic History of Japan; Economic History of Asia, etc.

5. Labor and Industrial Economics :  Industrial Organization; Labor Economics; Social Policy; Industrial Economics; Health Economics, etc.

6. Public Economics and Monetary Economics : Economic Policy; Money, Banking, and Finance; Public Finance; Public Economics, etc.

7. The Economy of Japan : Contemporary Japanese Economy; Modern Capitalism, etc. 

8. The International Economy : World Economy; International Trade; International Finance, etc.

9. Environmental Economics : Environmental Economics; Economic Geography; Urban Economics, etc. 

10. Economy and Society : Social History; Demography, etc. 

For further details, please refer to the  Course Registration Handbook and Syllabus.

The goal of the Master’s program is to gain familiarity with the modern theory and techniques of economics at levels appropriate for professional economists, and to demonstrate them by writing a thesis in a chosen field.

1.Students must enroll in the program for at least two years (unless a one-year exemption is allowed) and complete 30 credits with the following distribution requirements:

(Credits earned outside Keio, either as part of a period of study abroad or by studying courses offered by other Japanese universities, cannot be included in this total.)

2.They must also submit a thesis and pass the evaluation and a final oral examination.

The Graduate School of Economics has a system that allows students to earn a master’s degree in one year.

This early completion system was introduced when the Faculty of Economics established a system of allowing fourth-year undergraduates in the Faculty to take graduate school courses prior to entering the graduate school. The system allows students to combine credits for graduate-school courses taken while in the undergraduate program with credits for graduate-school courses taken in the first year of the graduate program.

This system also enables students who have graduated from other universities to complete the Master’s Program in one year if they meet the degree requirements.

The goal of the doctorate program is to write a doctoral dissertation. Each student will have two professors as advisors. A prerequisite for submitting the dissertation is the publication of at least one refereed paper. Once this condition is fulfilled, candidates are free to submit their dissertation, as long as their advisors consent.

Students can take courses offered by the Institute of Science Tokyo, Waseda University and Hitotsubashi University up to a maximum of 12 credits in the master’s and the doctoral programs respectively. In the master’s program, credits are taken as Related Courses and up to 4 credits can be counted for degree completion. In the doctoral program, credits are taken as optional courses and these credits are not counted for degree requirement. For more details about the credit transfer, please see the Course Registration Handbook. Please check necessary procedures with the reception of the Office of Student Services.

For contents of courses, see the website of the Institute of Science Tokyo:

For contents of courses, see the website of the Waseda University:

For contents of courses, see the website of Hitostubashi University: