11460

ECON 100 A Principles of Economics

Sanjaya DeSilva

M . W . .

10:10am - 11:30am

OLIN 205

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance, Environmental & Urban Studies, Global & Int'l Studies, Social Policy This course is a one-semester introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. The microeconomics component of the course develops the basic model of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market and examines several ways in which the real world deviates from this model—including monopoly and other forms of imperfect competition; information problems; minimum wages and other price controls; taxes; and government regulation. The macroeconomics component studies the aggregate behavior of modern economies - the factors leading to economic growth, explanations of booms and recessions, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, and budget deficits or surpluses – and the government's ability (or inability) to use monetary and fiscal policies to achieve economic goals such as full employment and price stability. This course replaces the two-semester introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics sequence and is the foundational course in the economics curriculum. Prerequisite: passing score on Part I of the Mathematics Diagnostic. Class size: 22

11464

ECON 100 B Principles of Economics

Pavlina Tcherneva

. T . Th .

10:10am - 11:30 am

HEG 102

SSCI

See above. Class size: 22

11465

ECON 100 C Principles of Economics

Pavlina Tcherneva

. T . Th .

1:30 pm -2:50 pm

HEG 204

SSCI

See above. Class size: 22

11463

ECON 202 Intermediate Macroeconomics

Olivier Giovannoni

. . W . F

8:30 am -9:50 am

OLIN 201

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance, Environmental & Urban Studies, Global & Int'l Studies, Social Policy This course is the continuation of the introductory macroeconomics course. In it, students will get acquainted with main models that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The course starts by looking at the models that explain long run economic growth. We then focus our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run business cycles, the periods of recessions and booms that occur on a regular basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of governments in affecting the long run and short run economic prospects of their countries. We apply the acquired theoretical knowledge to a range of current economic issues, including budget deficits and national debt, international trade, and the role of institutions. Prerequisite: either ECON 100, or the combination ECON 101 / ECON 102, MATH 110. Class size: 22

11469

ECON 203 Game Theory

Aniruddha Mitra

. T . Th .

10:10am - 11:30 am

OLIN 205

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics and Finance, Environmental and Urban Studies, Global and Int'l Studies, Political Studies Game Theory is the study of how rational actors behave when they know that their actions hold consequences not just for themselves but for others as well and they are, in turn, affected by the actions taken by others. While the discipline has come to be regarded as a core area of economics, its applicability extends far beyond the analysis of economic behavior. The object of this course is to introduce you to the basics of game theory, emphasizing its generality as an analytical paradigm for social science. We shall, therefore, focus on a wide variety of applications taken from economics, political science, and the study of the environment. Prerequisite: Econ 100 or Econ 101 Class size: 22

11467

ECON 216 European Economic History

Olivier Giovannoni

. . W . F

1:30 pm -2:50 pm

HEG 102

HIST

Cross-listed: Environmental & Urban Studies, Global & Int'l Studies, Social Policy This course presents the economic development of Europe from its roots in the Roman Empire to the present day. The first part of the class presents the economics of the Roman Empire, of Feudal Europe, of Mercantilism, of Imperialism, and of the Industrial Revolution. The second part of the class is devoted to post-WWII Europe: reconstruction, the golden age, communism / socialism, the 80s turn around, Maastricht and the Euro, and the European crisis. The questions addressed include: What lessons does the Roman Empire teach us? What was the role of agriculture and urbanization in medieval Europe? Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in Britain, and not elsewhere? Why were some countries "no-shows", or very slow, to join the development bandwagon? What are the economic motivations, and consequences, of wars? How do institutions and government interventions frame economic growth? How important is international trade for Europe? What opportunities and challenges do natural resources (or lack thereof) pose? How did the European Union and the Eurozone come to be? Can present-day Europe overcome its challenges? The course is designed for inquiring minds who wish to understand how Europe came to be the major economic area it is now. Our approach is interdisciplinary (history, sociology, politics, geography, institutions…); however we will insist on their economic aspect. Class size: 22

11471

ECON 226 Urban and Regional Economics

Kris Feder

M . W . .

11:50 am -1:10 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI

Cross-listed: American Studies, Environmental & Urban Studies, Social Policy; Science, Technology & Society An introduction to the economic analysis of the spatial distribution of human behavior, addressing such questions as: Where and why do cities arise--why do people cluster their homes and workplaces together in certain places? What factors determine the market allocation of land among users, and the variations in land value from place to place? What determines the size, density, and number of urban areas? What are the causes and consequences of suburbanization and sprawl, so evident in the US and Canada in recent decades? The spatial structure of cities and of regional systems of cities is analyzed from the perspective of economic theory. Also, contemporary urban problems are examined from an economic point of view: housing and homelessness; crime; transportation; social services; segregation; inner-city blight. Particular attention is paid to historical patterns of urbanization and to the causes and consequences of urban sprawl in the US. PREREQUISITE: ECON 100 or the equivalent. Class size: 22

11466

ECON 229 Statistics

Alex Chung

. . W . F

10:10am - 11:30am

OLIN 203

MATC

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance, Environmental & Urban Studies, Global & Int'l Studies, Social Policy The first of a two-course series designed to examine empirical economics, and a prerequisite for Economics 329, Econometrics. Basic concepts of statistics, probability, probability distributions, random variables, correlation, and simple regression are introduced; the techniques of statistical inference hypothesis testing are developed. Numerous examples and computer-based exercises are included. Prerequisite: Economics 101 or 102, ARC 150 if recommended. Class size: 22

11468

ECON 254 Women and the Economy

Pavlina Tcherneva

. T . Th .

3:10 pm -4:30 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI/DIFF

Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality Studies This course will examine the role and place of women in the economy. It is an economics course with strong interdisciplinary bent that has two main objectives. The first is to introduce students to different theoretical approaches and methodologies to analyzing labor markets, household production, pay practices and other economic outcomes that specifically affect women. The second goal is to use the different theoretical lenses for analyzing key policy questions, such as pay differentials, discrimination, comparable worth policies, unpaid care burden and labor force participation, globalization's impact on women, and many others. The course will expose students to more advanced academic literature and policy-relevant papers to help them improve their research and writing skills. Prerequisite: Econ 100 or Econ 102 Class size: 20

11845

ECON 291 Foundations of Finance and Investments

Alex Chung

. . W . F

11:50 am -1:10 pm

OLIN 203

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance This course explores the foundations of the pricing of financial instruments and the structure and organization of financial markets. Methods will be developed to analyze and measure financial performance, price stocks and bonds, evaluate portfolios and understand financial derivatives as these relate to financial data. Additional topics include the investment decision-making process; trading practices; risk assessment and diversification. This course involves a substantial amount of statistical analysis and calculation, but no prior knowledge of statistics is required. Class size: 22

11470

ECON 317 Industrial Organization

Aniruddha Mitra

. T . Th .

8:30 am -9:50 am

OLIN 204

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance Industrial organization is the study of how industries function and how firms interact within an industry. While this is part of the general agenda of microeconomics, industrial organization distinguishes itself by its emphasis on the study of firm behavior in imperfectly competitive markets. The primary objective of this course is to investigate how firms acquire market power or the ability to influence the price of their product; the strategic behavior of firms that possess market power; and the effect of policy intervention in such industries. Prerequisite: Economics 201 Class size: 15

11474

ECON 321 Microeconomics of Development

Sanjaya DeSilva

M . . . .

1:30 pm -3:50 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI

Cross–listed: Environmental & Urban Studies The goal of the seminar is to introduce upper college students to the contemporary academic literature in development microeconomics. We will do close readings of primary articles, write literature reviews, study mathematical models, learn empirical research methods and analyze primary and secondary data. Students are expected to write a research paper that contains original theoretical and empirical analysis. This year, the seminar will explore the process of structural change in developing economies from a microeconomic perspective. Among the topics discussed are economic diversification, industrialization, growth of markets and trade, migration and urbanization. We will evaluate structural change at the level of households, firms, communities and local environments, and examine how natural (e.g. water, land, energy) and human (e.g. population, education, health) resource endowments influence the trajectory of structural change. Prerequisites: Econ 201 (Intermediate Microeconomics) or Econ 221 (Economic Development), Calculus I and Statistics. Class size: 15

11472

ECON / FIN 391 Corporate Finance

Alex Chung

. . . Th .

1:30 pm -3:50 pm

OLIN 310

Capital is a scarce resource. Access to capital and its efficient use are critical to business success. This course discusses how capital can be raised and allocated within corporations to the advantage of corporate shareholders. Topics include: allocation of capital for investments, measurement of the opportunity cost of capital, capital structure, cash-distribution policy, corporate restructuring, and long-term financing. At the end of course, you will know how to value a company. On the way the topics we shall cover those that are important to all managers whether or not they specialize in finance: (1) procedures for analyzing companies' financial data to determine how efficiently they have been run; (2) methods for projecting funding needs based on principles of good working capital management; (3) rules for choosing the maximal safe, or optimal, level of debt in the structure of capital used for funding company operations; (4) figuring the costs of the various types of funds that a company uses and its weighted average cost of capital; and (5) combining all the foregoing into a methodology, to wit, discounting free cash flows and adding salvage value, for establishing a company's value or price.

Class size: 15