Fundamental Courses
The Fundamentals are mandatory courses designed to provide students with the essential tools needed for subsequent coursework and thesis work. These five courses lay the foundation in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, international economics, and economic policy.
The short descriptions are provided below.
(3 SWS per week, 6 CP)
This course introduces basic concepts and key tools that are central to the understanding of macroeconomic issues, ranging from short-term economic fluctuations to long-term growth. Students will learn how models are used to interpret key empirical facts in macroeconomic data; how to use mathematical tools for the analysis of model economies; how to develop and use the most common models for understanding the relationship between aggregate output, inflation and interest rates, and the key drivers of macroeconomic growth and cycles; and how to develop policy recommendations and conduct practical policy analysis.
(3 SWS per week, 6 CP)
Based on a sound understanding of the theory of the firm and the household, this course covers issues such as regulation, welfare effects of government-induced price distortions, and the theory of market failures. Furthermore, this course provides students with modern tools while enabling them to understand and work with scholarly articles in areas such as public finance and industrial organization.
(3 SWS per week, 6 CP)
This core course in econometrics introduces the methods behind the empirical analysis of micro and macro data as they are encountered in cross-sectional and time series studies, respectively. The application of these methods will be demonstrated with real data examples, and solved with standard computer software. Students learn how to carry out empirical studies of the nature of economic relationships. The course presumes that students are already familiar with linear regression models and material from elementary econometrics or empirical economics.
(3 SWS per week, 6 CP)
The course covers the normative and positive sides of Public Policy.
Part 1 covers the normative side, including
- Social welfare functions
- The impossibility of transitive social preferences
- The optimal supply of public goods
- Externalities and the tragedy of the commons
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Regulation of market power
- Public procurement
Part 2 covers the positive side, including
- Voting rules
- The economics of federalism
- Rent seeking
- Bureaucracy and the Leviathan hypothesis
(3 SWS per week, 6 CP)
This course introduces students to the study of international trade and applications of trade theory to policy analysis. We will analyze the causes and consequences of international trade and investigate why nations trade, what they trade and who gains and who loses from this trade. We will cover Ricardian models, the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, the new trade theory and the Melitz model of firm dynamics.
