CAS EC501 Microeconomic Theory
Prereq: CAS EC201 or equivalent, and either CAS EC505 or CAS MA225, or consent of instructor. Covers the basic concepts and techniques of microeconomic theory. Topics include consumer demand and its foundation on preferences and budget constraints, production theory, applied competitive equilibrium analysis, imperfect competition, elementary game theory, economics of uncertainty and imperfect information, and other market failures such as externalities and public goods. Course assumes some mathematical inclination and interest in policy applications of microeconomics.
CAS EC502 Macroeconomic Theory
Prereq: CAS EC202 or equivalent, and either CAS EC505 or CAS MA225, or consent of instructor. After a brief introduction to the basics of macroeconomics, the course concentrates on economic growth and inflation in the long-run. It then turns to models of short-run fluctuations with an emphasis on the role of fiscal and monetary policy. Much of the reading is from original articles in research journals. In addition to studying theoretical models, the course also introduces basic analysis of macroeconomic data in order to evaluate and test competing models.
CAS EC505 Elementary Mathematical Economics
Prereq: CAS MA121 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Grad Prereq: (CAS MA121) or consent of instructor. Stresses the formulation of economics problems in mathematical terms. Topics covered include partial derivation, total differentials, constrained maximization, matrix algebra, dynamic analysis, and discounting. Cannot be taken for credit by concentrators in Mathematics or Economics and Mathematics to fulfill the elective requirement of their undergraduate degree in mathematics or economics. If they are also admitted to the Economics BA/MA program they may use CASEC505 as an MA elective subject to departmental approval.
CAS EC507 Statistics for Economists
Prereq: CAS EC203 or equivalent, and CAS MA121 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. The first half of the course covers descriptive statistics, measures of association, dispersion, frequency distribution, probability, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis testing. The second half of the course introduces multivariate regression analysis, with an emphasis on specification, testing, and interpretation of econometric models. Students will be introduced to statistical software packages and required to use these in assignments.
CAS EC508 Econometrics
Prereq: CAS EC507 or consent of instructor. Provides standard econometric tools necessary to perform and evaluate empirical research in economics, either in a research or business environments. Three basic concepts in econometrics are introduced: quantifying uncertainty using confidence intervals; inferring causal relationships in regressions; and prediction based on regression estimates. Topics include heteroskedasticity, limited dependent variables, errors in variables, stationary and autocorrelated time series. Exercises will be assigned using statistical software packages.
CAS EC509: Topics in Econometrics with Applications
Prereq: CAS EC507 and CAS EC508; or consent of instructor. Introduction to standard time series techniques and some advanced cross-sectional techniques in econometrics. Emphasis on applications in economics, political science, finance, marketing, and other areas of social science and business.
CAS EC513 Game Theory
Prereq: one approved calculus course (CAS MA121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129) or consent of instructor.Models of decision-making in which the choices of different individuals interact: basic equilibrium notions in normal form games, including signaling games and repeated games. Applications include auctions, foreign policy, takeover bids, entry deterrence, cooperation and conflict, financial markets and public goods.
CAS EC515 The Economics of Information
Prereq: CAS EC201 or equivalent and one of CAS MA121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129, or consent of instructor. Recommended: CAS EC513. Introduction to the field of information economics and its applications. Covers a wide range of situations in which players have access to different private information and this private information differently affects their incentives and strategic behavior.
CAS EC517 Economic Models of Social Learning and Coordination
Prereq: one calculus course numbered CAS MA121 or higher, CAS EC201 or CAS EC501, and CAS EC202 or CAS EC202. (CAS EC515 recommended); or consent of instructor. Economic models analyzing the relationship between rational economic decisions and flows of information, with diverse micro- and macro-economic applications.
CAS EC521 Development Theory
Prereq: CAS EC201 and CAS EC202 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Analytical treatment of the problems of economic growth and development with emphasis on economic growth, macroeconomic stability, income distribution, and structural change. Students will prepare an in-depth study of a particular problem that has arisen in a chosen developing country. These studies will analyze the potential use of policy measures that can deal with the problem using appropriate historical data from the chosen country. Class presentation of these case studies will be an integral part of the course.
CAS EC522 Development Strategy
Prereq: one year of graduate study. Case study approach to questions of employment, trade, macro-policy, and development strategy; including relationship between economic growth, economic policy, and income distribution.
CAS EC523 Economics and Psychology
Prereq: CAS EC201, CAS EC221 or CAS EC501, or equivalent can be taken concurrently with the course. Introduction to a field of economics that challenges the traditional model of rational decision-making and uses research in psychology to construct alternative models. Covers the theory of choice under certainty, uncertainty, and temptation; biases in judgment; social preferences.
CAS EC531 Market Structure and Industrial Organization
Prereq: CAS MA121 (or a more advanced calculus course) and CAS EC201 (or a more advanced microeconomics course), or consent of instructor. Focuses on the main interactions between firms and consumers under different market conditions and market structures. Among the issues discussed: profit maximization, monopoly power, price discrimination, bundling, oligopoly and imperfect competition, entry deterrence, quality choice and advertising.
CAS EC536 Economics of Corporate Organization
Prereq: CAS EC501, one calculus course (CAS MA121, 123, 127), and a course in elementary probability theory and statistical inference (CAS EC507 or CAS MA213, 214 or SMG SM221). Economic analysis of the architecture of firms and other organizations. Topics include firm boundaries, the allocation of ownership and control, integration and outsourcing, corporate governance, performance evaluation, and compensation.
CAS EC541 Topics in Monetary Theory and Macroeconomics
Prereq: Consent of instructor. Combines monetary economics, macroeconomics and finance. Focus on the interactions among money, interest rate and consumption , and their consequences for monetary policy and asset prices (bonds, stocks and currencies).
CAS EC542 Money and Financial Intermediation
Prereq: CAS EC202 and CAS EC341 or CAS EC342, or consent of instructor. The role of money and financial institutions in the economy. The money supply process, and the relationship between money growth and real activity in various models of money demand. The differences between various types of financial markets, their evolution, and the effect they have on long-term growth. Determinants of interest rates and asset prices. The role financial intermediaries play in alleviating information problems, and the impact of this role on the transmission of monetary policy. Financial intermediary management and regulation. Derivatives and risk management. Basic calculus required.
CAS EC544 Introduction to Economic Dynamics
Prereq: CAS EC201 or CAS EC501, or equivalent; and CAS EC202 or CAS EC502, or equivalent; and CAS MA121 or CAS MA123 or CAS MA127 or CAS EC505, or equivalent; and CAS EC507, or equivalent. An introduction to the theory and applications of dynamic optimization and equilibrium analysis in discrete time. Focuses on numerical methods for solving many economic problems. Topics include difference equations, dynamic programming, and business cycle models.
CAS EC545 Financial Economics
Prereq: CAS EC201, CAS EC202, and CAS EC203, and one approved calculus course (CAS MA121, 122, 123, 127, or 129) or consent of instructor. Provides a sound understanding of the economic principles of finance, including the financial decisions and capital structure of a corporation and its relation to capital markets. Models of capital asset pricing and investors behavior are also discussed.
CAS EC551 Economics of Labor Markets
Prereq: CAS EC201 and CAS EC202, or consent of instructor. Economic behavior of labor market institutions in the United States wages determination, labor allocation, discrimination, economics of trade unions, and industrial relations. Implications of labor market behaviors for public policy.
CAS EC561 Public Economics I
Prereq: CAS EC201 or consent of instructor. Applies microeconomic theory to public-policy decisions around the world. The unifying underlying methodology is applied welfare economics or cost-benefit analysis. The applications are to project evaluation, taxation, regulation, shadow pricing, privatization, policy impact analysis, and valuing external effects such as pollution and congestion.
CAS EC563 Race and the Development of the American Economy: A Global Perspective
Prereq: CAS EC101. Surveys the economic history of African Americans within the context of the development of the American and global economies. Topics include the economics of slavery; race and industrialization; the Great Migration; anti-discrimination legislation; and the historical origins of contemporary racial inequalities.
CAS EC565 Economic Institutions in Historical Perspective
Prereq: CAS EC101 or consent of instructor. Historical development and role of institutions underlying market economies. Topics include contract enforcement and trading institutions, financial institutions, property rights in land, environmental resources such as water management and fisheries, economic infrastructure, regulation of labor and capital markets.
CAS EC569 African American Economic History
Prereq: CAS EC101. Introduction to current research in African American economic history. Topics include slavery and its aftermath, the long-term evolution of racial economic differences, segregation, voting rights, and anti-discrimination legislation.
CAS EC571 Energy and Environmental Economics
Prereq: CAS EC201, or CAS EC501 or consent of instructor. Environmental resources and markets characterized from physical, economic, and legal standpoints. Welfare arguments for public-sector intervention. Methodologies for policy assessment and simulation analyzed, including project analysis, new technology, evaluation models, deterministic and econometric models.
CAS EC572 Public Control of Business
Prereq: CAS EC201 or consent of instructor. Examines economic theory and case studies of antitrust policy, government regulation of private industry and the operation of state-owned enterprises. Case studies are drawn from both the industrialized and developing countries.
CAS EC581 Health Economics I
Prereq: CAS EC501 or consent of instructor. Demand for insurance and health care, moral hazard, and adverse selection. Supply of health care; quality and price competition. Physician agency, payment systems, capitation, risk management, and managed care. Emphasis on U.S. institutions, although concepts are relevant to other countries.
CAS EC590 Special Topics in Economics
May be repeated for credit as topics vary.
Section AA: Antitrust. Studies markets with imperfect competition in the context of antitrust policy and antitrust enforcement in the United States. Uses tools from microeconomics to study how and why imperfect competition can lead to inefficient and unjust outcomes. Also studies how economists and courts assess markets with imperfect competition in the context of antitrust policy and antitrust enforcement, today and historically.
Section BB: Political Economy. Studies game theoretical models of political competition to understand how societies decide on public policies. Discusses the idea of rational choice for a society when the members of that society differ in how they rank different alternatives. Models are applied to public policy issues such as income redistribution and political corruption.
CAS EC591 International Trade
Prereq: CAS EC201 or consent of instructor. Covers both theory and empirical evidence on international trade with reference to both industrialized and developing economies. Covers the factor content of trade, the role of technology and technology diffusion in determining trade patterns, scale economics and imperfect competition in trade, and elements of economic geography in trade. Policy interventions: tariffs, the exchange rate, trading blocs and political economy of reform. Basic calculus required.
CAS EC595 International Finance
Prereq: CAS EC502 or consent of instructor. Applies economic tools to open-economy macroeconomics. Topics include the determinants of the current account, exchange rate management, international capital markets, and growth in the world economy. Topical issues: the formation of the Euro; debt and financial crisis in developing countries.
CAS EC597E: MAEP Internship
Prereq: Completion of the MA Economics Core (CAS EC501, CAS EC502, CAS EC507, CAS EC508); for students starting the program in spring, the prerequisites may be abridged to CAS EC501 and CAS EC507 by departmental approval.
Subject to departmental approval and when it does not interfere with their normal class schedules (for instance during the summer term), MAEP students may earn four academic credits towards their degrees by working in an off-campus internship, and receive valuable on-the-job training that complements their academic studies. The duration of the internship should be six weeks or longer (working full-time). Both the student and the workplace supervisor are required to submit progress and final reports to the instructor of record. Assessment of the student will be based on these reports.
Note: Curricular Practical Training for overseas students participating in the internship may be endorsed by the ISSO at its sole discretion.
CAS EC598: The Economics of Globalization
Prereq: CAS EC201 or CAS EC501, or equivalent; CAS EC203 or CAS EC507, or equivalent; CAS EC391 or CAS EC591, or equivalent; CAS MA121 or CAS MA123 or CAS MA127 or CAS EC505, or equivalent; or consent of instructor. Analyzes various facets of globalization from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, using tools from international trade theory. Topics include firm-level trade patterns, multinational production, foreign direct investment, the creation of global vertical supply chains, outsourcing, and offshoring.
CAS EC798: Global Development Capstone
Prereq: At least 12 credits toward the MA in Global Development Policy or the MA in Global Development Economics. (Meets with CAS GE798 and IR798.) Capstone course for the MA students in Global Development Policy and Global Development Economics. Students working in groups, design and carry out an interdisciplinary policy analysis comparable to those performed for a government or nonprofit agency. Note: This course is open ONLY to students in the MA in Global Development Economics and MA in Global Development Policy programs.
Course Preparation for Required Examinations
The following courses are recommended as preparation for the MA Comprehensive: EC501, EC502, EC507, and EC508.