Ph.D from colleges in Canada/UK/Mainland Europe

Firstly, congratulations on your admit!

From your description of PhD programs in Mainland Europe, it sounds familiar to the way such programs are executed in India, Australia etc. The structure here also requires a M.Phil or a MSc in one concentration (such as economics or finance) and the PhD program starts with literature survey and dissertation right away. While I see the merits of such a structure, I won't be very comfortable since it requires two admits (one admit is hard enough as it is!) I also would have to consider how much flexibility is provided to a student to 'move around' in his/her area of interest. Personally, I would like to do research in areas from corporate finance/governance to monetary economics to economic history (I love Charles Kindleberger's works!) - fields which are completely unrelated but are just begging to be researched upon. Another thing which bothers me is the necessity for language. While I would love to learn French or German, to take it to the level of mastery in which I would be required to read a German research paper in just 12-18 months from now is an uphill task to say the least.

Still, I am intrigued with the European literature I have read so far, since it is much more 'softer' and often seems more relevant (at least to me) when I compare it to works by certain US professors who just overload the reader with numbers, equations and mind-bogglingly difficult language constructs. Plus the fact that PhD students are treated as staff sounds very inviting. I will definitely be going through the universities you have mentioned, so once again - thanks for the help!