Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS EC 505: Elementary Mathematical Economics
  Stresses the formulation of economic 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.
• CAS EC 507: Statistics for Economists
  Covers descriptive statistics, measures of association, dispersion, frequency distribution, probability, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis tests. Introduces multivariate regression analysis, with emphasis on specification, testing, and interpretation of econometric models. Requires working with data and use of statistical software.
• CAS EC 508: Econometrics
  Standard econometric methods for empirical economic research in academic or business settings. Basic concepts: quantification of uncertainty using confidence intervals, inference of causal relationships in regressions, and prediction based on regression estimates. Working with data and use of statistical software.
• CAS EC 509: Topics in Econometrics with Applications
  Matrix-algebra based coverage of cross-sectional econometrics. Topics include linear models, model selection, large sample theory, instrumental variables, nonlinear estimation, limited dependent variables, simultaneous equations and panel data. Involves programming in statistical software. Requires a term paper with original empirical analysis.
• CAS EC 513: Game Theory
  Mathematical models of decision-making and strategic interactions: 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 EC 515: Economics of Information
  Introduction to mathematical models of information economics and their 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 EC 517: Economic Models of Social Learning and Coordination
  Economic models and mathematical analysis of the relationship between rational economic decisions and flows of information, with diverse micro- and macro- economics.
• CAS EC 521: Development Policy
  Rigorous and quantitative analysis of the problems of economic development, with emphasis on economic growth, macroeconomic stability, income distribution, and structural change. In a case study using historical data, students analyze a current problem and policy measures that might address it.
• CAS EC 522: Development Strategy
  Case study approach to questions of employment, trade, macro-policy, and development strategy; including relationship between economic growth, economic policy, and income distribution. Reading of current research; use of real-world data and econometric methods.
• CAS EC 531: Market Structure and Industrial Organization
  Mathematical models and quantitative analysis of 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 EC 536: Economics of Corporate Organization
  Mathematical models and quantitative analysis of the architecture and performance of firms and other organizations. Topics include firm boundaries, the allocation of ownership and control, integration and outsourcing, corporate governance, performance evaluation, and compensation. May not be taken for credit in addition to CAS EC 436.
• CAS EC 541: Topics in Monetary Theory and Macroeconomics
  Combines monetary economics, macroeconomics, and finance. Mathematical models and quantitative analysis of the interactions among money, interest rate, and consumption and their consequences for monetary policy and asset prices (bonds, stocks, and currencies). Real-world data and econometric methods are also used.
• CAS EC 542: Money and Financial Intermediation
  Quantitative analyses of the role of money in the economy, financial institutions, the money supply process, models of money demand, financial markets, interest rates, asset prices. Study of monetary policy transmission, financial intermediary management and regulation, derivatives and risk management.
• CAS EC 544: Introduction to Economic Dynamics
  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 EC 545: Financial Economics
  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 EC 551: Economics of Labor Markets
  Economic behavior of labor markets and labor market institutions in the United States. Wage determination, labor allocation, discrimination, economics of trade unions, and industrial relations. Implications of labor market behaviors for public policy.
• CAS EC 561: Public Economics I
  Quantitative and microeconomic analysis of public-policy decisions worldwide, by means of applied welfare economics or cost-benefit analysis. Applications include project evaluation, taxation, regulation, shadow pricing, privatization, policy impact analysis, and valuation of external effects such as pollution and congestion.
• CAS EC 563: Race and the Development of the American Economy: A Global Perspective
  Surveys African-American economic history in the context of the development of American and global economies, using available data and econometrics methods. Topics include: economics of slavery; race and industrialization; the Great Migration; anti-discrimination legislation; historical origins of contemporary racial inequalities. (Meets with CAS AA 563.)
• CAS EC 565: Economic Institutions in Historical Perspective
  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 EC 569: African American Economic History
  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. Also offered as CAS AA 569.

Back to full list of Graduate School of Arts & Sciences