Economics

This course will teach students how different disciplines approach the study of a specific topic: the relationship between technologies and the labor market and what this implies for the future of jobs, for our communities and for our lives.

Studies the principles of production and exchange. An introduction to demand, supply, pricing, and output under alternative market structures. Derived demand and resource markets are introduced.

Studies the principles governing the level of national income and employment. Also examines the commercial banking system, monetary and fiscal policy, the international economy, and alternative economic systems.

Presents descriptive statistics, sophisticated counting techniques and other components of probability, simple random variables and their distribution, bivariate functions, sampling theory properties of estimators.

Discusses interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, applied regression theory, correlation analysis, and other selected topics.

An introduction to the economic analysis of behaviors and institutions in the labor market: labor supply and participation, labor demand by firms, wage determination under different institutional settings, and gender, race or ethnicity as determinants of different labor market outcomes. The course presents microeconomic models, empirical findings and their public policy implications on topics such as minimum wage, affirmative action, social insurance prorams, workplace safety, and subsidized day care. Prerequisites: 49.201 or instructor's approval.

Provides an advanced examination of price and production theory and the theory of the consumer and the firm.

An analysis of Keynesian and post-Keynesian theory. National income accounts, monetary and fiscal policy, and econometric models.

Examines various governmental and non governmental controls on business and nonprofit organizations. Emphasis is placed on the impact of laws, court interpretations, economic theories, social and political philosophies, and ethical consideration on these organizations. Students will have an opportunity to examine business decisions which involve questions of value and choice.

Formulation of an approach to development that includes the role of goals (growth, equity), sectors (agriculture, industry, services), resources (labor, capital, technology), government, international (trade, investment, debt), and political and socio-cultural factors. Examines success in a few Asian countries, failure in most of Africa, and crisis in South America emphasizing current controversies.

Applies the economic theory and statistical methods to business decision making. Estimation of demand, production, cost functions and accompanying elasticity estimates, pricing and output decisions, value maximization problems, and capital budgeting.

Examines economic and policy aspects of environmental quality, natural resource and relevant work-environment related issues. Models are used to blend economic theory (e.g. market failure caused by externalities, asymmetric information, lack of property rights etc.) with environmental facts using standard benefit-cost or efficiency criteria. Students will learn to derive policy insights from theoretical constructs. The primary objective is to show how the basic principles in economics can play a valuable role in analyzing and evaluating critical environmental issues and help in determining policy guidelines (in terms of direct controls, voluntary programs, taxes, other monetary incentives etc). Graduate students in work environment will be required to do an economic analysis of an occupational health and safety intervention. Graduate students from ESDR will undertake a project that is relevant to his or her field of specialization with the permission of the instructor.

In this course we will look at different types of investments, from stocks, bonds and real estate top mutual funds, hedge funds and derivatives exploring how and when to use them. Students will create a diversified investment portfolio using an online trading program that incorporates products covered in class. In addition we will look at how different exchanges operate and the role of financial investments in real capital accumulation and rising living standards.

A study of the principles of portfolio theory and the pricing of financial instruments in capital markets. Use of derivative markets to implement arbitrages, hedging and risk management strategies. Extensive background institutional detail on stock, bond, mortgage-backed, currency, futures and options markets.

The economics of financial intermediation and central bank monetary policy. Evaluation of global financial markets, financial deregulation, bank failures and financial stability, determinants of the level and term structure of interest rates, and the impacts of monetary policy changes on overall levels of output, employment and prices are topics analyzed in this course.

The economics of the public sector. Principles of public expenditure, taxation, and the public debt applied to federal, state, and local governments.

Analysis of free-market and planned economies in theory and practice. Emphasis on the United States, Japan, E.U. countries and the former Soviet Block nations.

A review of the postwar Japanese Economy and its legacy from the Tokugawa, Meiji and Taisho periods. An analysis of economic and management policies to explain postwar Japan's high rate of economic growth. A review of fiscal, monetary and industrial policies; labor, management, and government structures; and external economic relations.

The study of the high performing Asian economies. Economic growth is related to public policy, macroeconomic stability, equity and its institutional framework, export promotion models, human capital formation, savings and investment policies, and use of market mechanism in allocating resources.

The evolution of institutions and their functions, and sources of economic development. The contributions of railroads, agricultural population growth, immigration, capital formation and technological progress to economic development. Other areas addressed: rapid industrialization and antitrust laws; evolution of financial institutions, the creation of the Federal Reserve System, crash of 1929, the depression of the 1930s, the New Deal and various banking acts, the labor movement, the growth of international trade.

An introduction to the economic analysis of health care market The course presents microeconomic models, empirical findings and public policies referring to the following topics: the production and demand for health (the investment/consumption aspects of health and the relationship between socio economic status and health status), the issues of moral hazard and adverse selection in the insurance market, the role of information in the physician-patient relationship, the different regulation and payment systems for providers, the Medicare and Medicaid prorams, and the comparisons between the US system and the health systems of other western economies and developing countries. This class aims to help students becoming more informed future citizens and consumers or producers of healthcare. Prerequisites: 49.201 or instructor's approval.

Special Topics in Economics is a course for advanced undergraduates in Economics. The content will vary from semester to semester depending on the research interests of the Faculty member teaching the course.

The classical and modern theories. International payments, exchange and trade controls, and international trade policy determinants. Prerequisites: 49.201, 49.202.

In this course, we try to solve the puzzles of why some countries are so rich and some are so poor and why some countries grow so quickly and some grow so slowly. After introducing the basic analytical framework, we will investigate various possible reasons in explaining the oserved country differences. Those possible explanations include differences in countries' investment rates, population growth rates, human capital accumulation rates, production technologies, openness to international trade, and government policies. Issues of income inequality and their effect on economic growth will also be addressed. This course is designed for Economics majors or minors who have fulfilled the following prerequisites, and master level students from other departments, such as the Regional Economic and Social Development Department. Pre-req: 49.201 Economics I (Microeconomics) 49.202 Economics II (Macroeconomics)

This is a renumbering of an existing course, 49.315. The renumbering to the 400 level is to allow Masters students in programs with environmental content to take this course for credit with their advisor's approval. This course introduces students to the economic and policy aspects of environmental quality and natural resource issues. Simple and complex models are used to blend economic theory with environmental facts. Students will learn to derive policy insights from theoretical constructs. The primary objective is to show how the basic principles in economics can play a valuable role in analyzing and evaluating critical environmental issues and help in determining policy guidelines. Standard benefit cost or efficiency criteria will be applied to a wide variety of environmental issues.

A course to permit the advanced student to do research in topics of special interest in economics under faculty supervision. This course also may be utilized to offer topics to individual students where there are insufficient number of registrants for a regular class. Restricted to Economics majors.