Program Overview

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Overview

The PhD Program in Business Administration welcomes applications from individuals planning research-oriented academic careers. As well as gaining access to a world of knowledge and opportunity, Sauder PhD students benefit from the individual attention they receive from faculty members - right from the outset of the program. Our faculty members devote extensive time, energy and effort to developing the research capabilities of all of our PhD students.

What makes the program unique?

Judging by the standards of research achievement, graduate placement, publications and research grants received, the PhD program in Finance at UBC stands at the top of Canadian business schools and among the first rank of North American programs. An active group of skilled junior and senior researchers is a distinguishing feature of the finance faculty at UBC. This translates into a rich and heterogeneous portfolio of research interests ranging from game-theoretic models of corporate finance, to applications of Bayesian analysis in empirical finance, to theoretical modeling of equilibrium asset pricing. The wide research interests of the Division allows substantial flexibility for the PhD student in selecting a thesis research topic.

Quick Facts

• Faculty: Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration
• Academic Unit: Robert H. Lee Graduate School
• Specialization: Finance
• Mode of delivery: In person at UBC Vancouver
• Program Components: Dissertation
• Tuition (First Year):
  • Domestic: $5,626.02
  • International: $9,883.98
• Median Funding: 50% of students receive $47,892 or more funding per year in the first 4 years, before tuition and fees

Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

• Canada or the United States
• International countries other than the United States Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application. Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

• Overall score requirement: 100
• Reading: 22
• Writing: 21
• Speaking: 21
• Listening: 22

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

• Overall score requirement: 7.0
• Reading: 6.5
• Writing: 6.5
• Speaking: 6.5
• Listening: 6.5

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are: The GRE or a comparable test is required. Please check the program website.

2) Meet Deadlines

See the graduate degree program listing for additional deadline details.

• Program Name: Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Finance (PhD)
• Intake: September 2026
• Canadian Applicant Deadline: 31 December 2025
• International Applicant Deadline: 31 December 2025

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of reference

Applicants have to submit 3 references to apply to this graduate program. Please review our general information on reference letters, including the types of references (e.g. academic, professional) that you may be asked for and how the references will be collected. Additionally, you can view short videos on how to identify and approach reference writers.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members. The program will review research interests of applicants and recommend/match faculty members during the application/evaluation process. Applicants should not reach out to faculty members directly.

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees | Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat | International ---|---|--- Application Fee | $118.50 | $168.25 Tuition * Installments per year | 3 | 3 Tuition per installment | $1,875.34 | $3,294.66 Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%) | $5,626.02 | $9,883.98 Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible) | | $3,200.00 (-) Other Fees and Costs Student Fees (yearly) | $1,144.10 (approx.) Costs of living | Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities. The program provides a financial package that includes tuition plus $30,000 per year for the first five years of the PhD Program.

Career Outcomes

102 students graduated between 2005 and 2013. Of these, career information was obtained for 100 alumni (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016):

• RI (Research-Intensive) Faculty: typically tenure-track faculty positions (equivalent of the North American Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor positions) in PhD-granting institutions
• TI (Teaching-Intensive) Faculty: typically full-time faculty positions in colleges or in institutions not granting PhDs, and teaching faculty at PhD-granting institutions
• Term Faculty: faculty in term appointments (e.g. sessional lecturers, visiting assistant professors, etc.)

Research Supervisors

The program will review research interests of applicants and recommend/match faculty members during the application/evaluation process. Applicants should not reach out to faculty members directly. This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

• Agarwal, Isha (Banking; International Finance; Corporate Finance; macroeconomics; Banking, Corporate Finance, International Finance, Macroeconomics)
• Baldauf, Markus (Financial Markets; Information Economics; Industrial Organization; Regulation; Market Microstructure)
• Bena, Jan (Innovation; Corporate innovation; Asset pricing of technological progress; Private equity; Corporate ownership structure; Frictions in raising external finance; Entrepreneurship; Ownership of startup companies; Finance and industrial organization; Product market interactions; Innovation, Corporate innovation, Asset pricing of technological progress, Private equity, Corporate ownership structure, Frictions in raising external finance, Entrepreneurship, Ownership of startup companies, Finance and industrial organization, Product market interactions)
• Bian, Bo (Empirical corporate finance; Productivity; Innovation; Bankruptcy; Bankruptcy, Empirical corporate finance, Innovation, Productivity)
• Dias Saraiva-Patelli, Ella (Asset pricing and international finance; Asset pricing and international finance)
• Donaldson, Glen (Risk management, Volatility forecasting, Asset valuation, Financial econometrics, Financial markets and price behavior)
• Favilukis, Jack (Consumption and Production Based Asset Pricing; Heterogeneity and Inequality; Incomplete Markets; Real Estate)
• Fisher, Adlai (Asset pricing, financial econometrics, volatility modelling, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions)
• Garlappi, Lorenzo (Financial Economics; Asset pricing; Macro-Finance; Decision Theory; Financial Economics, Asset pricing, Macro-Finance, Decision Theory)
• Giammarino, Ronald (corporate theory; bank regulation; real options; corporate theory, bank regulation, real options)
• Gornall, Will (Corporate finance ; Venture capital; Banking)
• Hu, Allen (Big Data and AI in Finance; Information in Financial Markets; Behavioral Finance; Entrepreneurial Finance; Corporate Finance; Big Data and AI in Finance, Information in Financial Markets, Behavioral Finance, Entrepreneurial Finance, Corporate Finance)
• Lazrak, Ali (Asset pricing, Corporate Finance, Behavioral Finance, Household portfolio choice; Asset pricing and portfolio selection theory, preference theory under uncertainty)
• Li, Kai (corporate governance, CEO compensation, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, gender in corporate decision making, board of directors, national culture, innovation, Finance)
• Ortiz-Molina, Hernan (Corporate finance and governance, executive compensations, industrial organization, interactions bet; Corporate finance and governance, executive compensations, industrial organization, interactions bet)
• Pikulina, Elena (Institutional investors; Corporate finance; Experimental and behavioral finance)
• Zhang, Shaojun (expected return; macroeconomy; climate change; expected return, macroeconomy, climate change)

Sample Thesis Submissions

• Essays in corporate governance and financial institutions
• Essays in real estate finance
• Financial intermediation in private equity markets
• Essays on entrepreneurial finance and labor markets
• Essays in entrepreneurial finance and venture capital

Related Programs

Same specialization

• Master of Science in Business Administration in Finance (MSCB)

Same Academic Unit

• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Accounting (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Information Systems (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Management Science (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Marketing and Behavioural Science (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Organizational Behaviour (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Strategy and Business Economics (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Transportation and Logistics (PhD)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Urban Land Economics (PhD)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Business Analytics (MBAN)
• Master of Management (MM)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Finance (MSCB)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Management Information Systems (MSCB)
• Master of Science in Business Administration in Transportation and Logistics (MSCB)
• Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA)

Further Information

Specialization

Finance Finance at UBC covers research interests ranging from game-theoretic models of corporate finance, to applications of Bayesian analysis in empirical finance, to theoretical modeling of equilibrium asset pricing.

Program Website

administration/specializations/finance

Faculty

Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration

Academic Unit

Robert H. Lee Graduate School

Program Identifier

VGDPHD-CHI4

Classification

Natural sciences » Mathematics and statistics » Statistics » Actuarial science and mathematical finance
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Economics » Financial economics
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Economics » International economics and international finance
Social sciences » Economics and business administration » Finance

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

ENROLMENT DATA

2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Applications	77	75	94	84	102
Offers	6	5	4	3	4
New Enrolment	3	2	2	2	3
Total Enrolment	16	17	18	16	15

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 83% based on 13 students admitted between 2011 - 2014. Based on 8 graduations between 2020 - 2023 the minimum time to completion is 5.13 years and the maximum time is 7.17 years with an average of 6.22 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.