Graduate Courses

Prerequisite: One semester of calculus plus one additional semester of college mathematics or permission of instructor
Modern economics employs mathematics to develop rigorous models and theories to describe economic behavior.   This course will familiarize you with some of the most fundamental mathematics used in economics and prepare you to reason like a mathematician.  In order to achieve the first goal, the course covers the basics of many topics including linear algebra, real analysis, and optimization.  In order to cover as much as possible, the course focuses on the math although there will be a few economic examples.  For the second goal, we will develop rigorous proofs of most of the theory in class.  (This course begins approximately one week before regular Fall classes begins and is completed mid-semester.)

Prerequisite: Instructor permission
Graduate students combine course work in an upper-level undergraduate economics course with additional special assignments. Restricted to graduate students. Graduate students in economics must have permission of the Director of Graduate Studies. Because topics vary with instructor, the course may be taken more than once.

Prerequisite: ECON 3710 or the equivalent and one semester of calculus
Meets concurrently with Econ 4720. The application of statistical methods to the testing and estimation of economic relations. Development of the linear regression model including hypothesis testing, specification, instrumental variables, generalized least squares. Introduction to identification and estimation of simultaneous equation models.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor
This is the first course in a three-semester graduate microeconomics sequence designed to equip you with the basic analytical tools of modern microeconomic theory. We will cover producer theory, consumer preferences, utility theory, consumer choice, and choice under uncertainty. These tools will prepare you for the second course (Econ 7030), which examines market structure, general equilibrium, and welfare, and the third (Econ 8010), which introduces game theory and models of asymmetric information.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor
The main goal of this course is to teach you the necessary tools that can be applied to give answers, both qualitative and quantitative, to many different problems in (macro)economics. Research at the frontier of macroeconomics uses general equilibrium models that are built from taking individual choice problems and aggregating. To do so, we need to first develop of the tools and concepts of general equilibrium theory. Since most interesting questions in economics involve choices over time and under uncertainty, we will develop general equilibrium theory using dynamic exchange economies. Using these concepts, we will then introduce the main building block of modern macroeconomics, the Neoclassical Growth Model. We will study how to formulate the problem in a recursive fashion and study many applications. Finally, in the last portion of the course we will start to depart from the stylized models of the first section and introduce certain ‘frictions’ like incomplete markets, limited commitment, private information, and search. 

Prerequisite: ECON 7010 or permission of instructor
The course constitutes the second part of the graduate sequence in Microeconomics. The emphasis here is on market equilibrium and market failure, in particular, the optimality properties of a competitive equilibrium and the circumstances under which a market equilibrium fails to be optimal.  We start with a partial equilibrium analysis to illustrate the market mechanism and the basic welfare theorems.  We then consider some prime reasons for market failure: externalities and market power.  The equilibrium analysis is then extended to consider inter-related markets, or general equilibrium analysis.  We prove the fundamental welfare theorems in this setting, and apply the analysis to international trade.

Prerequisite: ECON 7020 or permission of instructor
This course is the second part of a two-part sequence in macroeconomics. The focus of the course will be on business cycle fluctuations and on the analysis, solution and calibration of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor
Econometrics I provides probability and statistical foundations of Econometrics. The course begins by studying measure-theoretic concepts of probability and then evolves to the analysis of stochastic convergence and basic concentration results. The course then covers statistical concepts of random sampling, sample statistics and stochastic approximation. The last part of the course studies construction of statistical decisions and tests using the preceding course material.

Prerequisite: ECON 7710 or permission of instructor
ECON 7720 is the second-half of a year -long sequence in economic statistics and econometrics.   This sequence is designed for first year Ph.D. students in economics and, combined with either Economics 871 or 872, serves to meet the departmental Ph.D. statistics and econometrics requirement. After some introductory material on prediction and estimation, the course is divided in three parts. The first part is devoted to the linear regression model, covering different estimation and testing procedures, and also, we discuss identification issues. The second part introduces generalized method of moments (GMM), and uses GMM to explore a range of non-linear models (e.g, binary choice and censored). Finally, the third part covers the selection problem using both partial identification and linear simultaneous equations models. 

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 or permission of instructor
ECON 8010 is an introduction to non-cooperative game theory and the economics of information, emphasizing applications to microeconomics. Applications include topics such as bargaining, cooperation in repeated games, the design of optimal auctions, and signalling models.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor
Economic evolution of the United States.

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 and ECON 7720 or permission of instructor
This course aims to introduce you to major topics within labor economics. At the end of the course, you should have a working knowledge of questions, relevant literature and methods that are at the research frontier. This course will also have structured exercises to help you formulate and develop research projects.

Prerequisite: ECON 7720
Advanced topics in labor economics, with an emphasis on applications to developing countries. Cross listed with Econ 8190.

Prerequisite: ECON 7010, 7030, and 8010, or permission of instructor
Industrial structure of the economy and its effect on the allocation of resources.

Prerequisite: ECON 8170 or permission of instructor
Advanced study of selected problems in industrial organization.

Cross listed as Econ 8160.

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 or permission of instructor
The theory of international trade and analysis of the economic effects of tariffs, quotas, and other departures from free trade.

Prerequisite: ECON 7020 or permission of instructor
Balance of payments, long-term and short-term capital movements, the international money market, international monetary standards, international equilibrium and the mechanism of adjustment, exchange variations, and the objectives of international monetary policies.

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 or permission of instructor

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 or permission of instructor
Justifications for government activities; principles of program analysis; illustrative theoretical and empirical analyses of expenditure programs; theories of political processes.

Prerequisite: ECON 7030 or permission of instructor
Foundations of excess burden, incidence analysis, and optimal taxation; studies of taxation; general equilibrium analysis for tax policy; study of tax reform.

Prerequisites: Econ 7030, 7040, 7720
This is an advanced macro/finance graduate course devoted to study topics in finance with particular emphasis in financial markets and problems in their functioning.  The course will cover recent theories of financial crisis as we as experimental evidence.

Prerequisite: ECON 7040 or permission of instructor
Advanced study of selected topics in macro-and monetary economics, with an emphasis on theoretical and computational issues.

Prerequisite: ECON 7040 or permission of instructor
Advanced study of selected topics in macro- and monetary economics, with an emphasis on the interactions between business cycle fluctuations and government stabilization policies. The course presents various workhorse models and examines their implications for the use of monetary policy and fiscal policy. Both theoretical and empirical issues will be discussed.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in applied microeconomics.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in macroeconomics.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in economic theory.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in finance.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in public economics.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in econometrics.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in industrial organization.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
Current research in global development.

Prerequisite: ECON 7040 or permission of instructor
Studies the issues related to economic development, emphasizing endogenous growth models. Topics include human capital, R & D, learning by doing, fiscal policy, trade, and financial development.
 

Prerequisite: ECON 7720 or permission of instructor
Econometric tools for the analyses of cross-section and qualitative data.

Prerequisite: ECON 7720 or permission of instructor
Econometric techniques for the analysis of economic time series.

Prerequisite: Must have completed ECON 7710 and 7720
"Traditional" econometric inference is hard to implement in "big data" settings. This course provides a bridge between highly efficient scalable tools from Machine Learning and nonparametric econometric models. The focus will be on developing non-parametric models of large datasets, establishing uniform consistency results for the analyzed models, and bridging the computational efficiency and statistical properties of the estimators.

Prerequisite: ECON 7040
The class presents modern numerical methods for solving mathematical problems common in economics.  Examples include functional approximation, nonlinear maximization and root finding, and numerical integration and differentiation. Applications include the solution of dynamic decision problems, computing equilibria of dynamic economies and games, and nonlinear estimation.

Prerequisite: ECON 7010 or permission of instructor
Analysis of the use of laboratory methods to study economic behavior. Topics include experimental design, laboratory technique, and nonparametric analysis of data. Emphasizes using controlled observations to evaluate alternative economic theories and policies. Applications include bargaining, auctions, oligopoly, asymmetric information, voting, public goods, financial markets, and tests of expected utility and game theories.

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of instructor
An introduction to the tools and methods of performing research in economics

Prerequisite: Permission of the DGS
Allowed under special circumstances for master's-level research, taken under the supervision of the DGS (before an advisor has been agreed upon)

Prerequisite: Permission of the DGS
Allowed under special circumstances for master's-level research, taken under the supervision of a thesis director.

Prerequisite: Permission of the DGS
Advanced research into specific economic problems under detailed faculty supervision.

Prerequisite: Permission of the DGS
Continuation of Economics 9950.
 

Prerequisite: Third-year status or permission of the DGS
For doctoral research, to be taken only after completing the field requirement, and before a dissertation reader has been selected.

Prerequisite: Third-year status and/or permission of the instructor
For doctoral research taken under the supervision of the first reader or a prospective first reader.