ECON 500- Summer Semester: Mandatory Math Camp for 3 weeks

1st Year – Fall Semester 1st Year – Spring Semester
Required Course 1 Required Course 2
Elective Elective
Elective Elective
KOLT 500: TA Workshops ETHR 500 Ethics Course
TEACH 500: TA Assignments TEACH 500: TA Assignments
ECON 590: Seminar ECON 590: Seminar
2nd Year – Fall Semester 2nd Year – Spring Semester
ECON 510- Research Methods Elective
ENGL 500 : English Academic Writing ECON 695: PhD Dissertation
TEACH 500: TA Assignments TEACH 500: TA Assignments
ECON 590: Seminar ECON 590: Seminar
3rd Year – Fall Semester 3rd Year – Spring Semester
ECON 695: PhD Dissertation ECON 695: PhD Dissertation
TEACH 500: TA Assignments TEACH 500: TA Assignments
ECON 590: Seminar ECON 590: Seminar
4th Year – Fall Semester 4th Year – Spring Semester
ECON 695: PhD Dissertation ECON 695: PhD Dissertation
TEACH 500: TA Assignments TEACH 500: TA Assignments
ECON 590: Seminar ECON 590: Seminar

-Complete their course work successfully,

-Pass their comprehensive examinations, and

-Defend their dissertation proposal.

-Students who have teaching assistantship assignments must take TEACH 500: Teaching Experience during the semesters of their assignments. Students must also take ENGL 501: Advanced Graduate Writing course. 

Required MA Courses

ECON 500-Mathematical Foundations (non-credit, pre-fall Term 1st Year)

To facilitate a swift transition from undergraduate to graduate training, the mathematical foundation that all students should have before starting the MA courses is reviewed in a four-week long intensive Math Camp.  Classes meet three days a week and there is an evaluation at the end of each week. Topics include:  mathematical statements and proofs; functions; sequences and limits; continuity; differentiation; metric spaces; integration.

ECON 501 Mathematics for Economists

Covers selected topics in mathematics that are frequently used in the economic theory and its applications. Topics include: introduction to optimization theory (existence of a solution, alternative characterization of compactness, Weirestrass Theorem, convexity); convex sets, concave and quasi-concave functions; characterization of a solution, Lagrange and Kuhn-Tucker approaches; parametric continuity, correspondences and maximum theorem; parametric monotonicity, lattices, supermodularity; fixed point theorems.

ECON 503 Microeconomics I

Consumer theory; production theory; general equilibrium and welfare.

ECON 504 Microeconomics II

Choice under uncertainty; game theory; mechanism design; principal-agent models.

ECON 507 Macroeconomics I

Long-term economic growth; overlapping generations models; consumption, saving, and investment; real interest rates and asset prices; money and inflation.

ECON 508 Macroeconomics II

Classical and Keynesian theories of cyclical fluctuations; real business cycle theory; determination of employment and real wages; credit markets and financial stability; stabilization policy.

ECON 510 Research Methods

Comprehensive overview of research methodology and ethical norms underlying the production and dissemination of original research in economics. Formulation of the research question, understanding the use of different types of tools in answering the question, and presenting the findings in a carefully crafted scientific book or article.  Analysis of important methodological issues confronting researchers in economics, such as the efficacy of economic models in capturing important real-life phenomena, the problem of identifying causality or making appropriate statistical inferences from available data.

ECON 511 Econometrics I

Review of probability and statistics: random variables, univariate and joint probability distributions, expectations; bivariate normal; sampling distributions; introduction to asymptotic theory; estimation; inference. Linear regression: conditional expectation function; multiple regression; classical regression model, inference and applications.

ECON 512 Econometrics II

Departures from the standard assumptions: specification tests; a first look at time series; generalized regression; nonlinear regression; simultaneous equations, identification, instrumental variables. Extensions and applications: ML, GMM, VAR, GARCH, panel data.

Required PhD Courses

ECON 505 Advanced Microeconomic Theory

The course includes topics such as the game theory under perfect information, game theory under imperfect information, matching and mechanism design.

ECON 509 Advanced Macroeconomic Theory

The course includes topics such as the business cycle theory, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, models of unemployment with search, market efficiency and macroeconomic performance, and theories of long-run growth.

ECON 513 Advanced Econometrics

The focus of the course is the empirical applications and tests of macroeconomic and/or microeconomic theories.  Students are provided with the ability to analyze the standard econometric applications.

ECON 690 Seminar

Weekly departmental seminars and student presentations in their research areas.

ECON 695 Ph.D. Disseration

Independent research towards Ph.D. degree. 

ENGL 501 Advanced Graduate Writing

This is a writing course specifically designed to improve academic writing skills as well as critical reading and thinking. The course objectives will be met through extensive reading, writing and discussion both in and out

of class. Student performance will be assessed and graded by Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

Elective Courses

ECON 514 Advanced Game Theory

This course covers theories and models that expand the horizons of game theory.

ECON 515 Advanced Mechanism Design

This course covers major contributions to mechanism design.

ECON 516 Advanced Law and Economics

This course aims to examine the relationship between law and economic and behavioral approaches and to provide understanding of models and conceptual frameworks.

ECON 517 International Trade

This course is about international trade theory and its policy aspects. It includes the Ricardian, Hecksher-Ohlin, specific factors and monopolistic competition trade models. It also includes topics on international competitiveness and development, protectionist policies and their welfare effects as well as the political economy of international trade.

 ECON 518 International Macroeconomics

This course examines macroeconomic theories of open economies, covering economic fluctuations in open economies, business cycle models, the effects of interest rate and terms of trade shocks on open economies, excessive borrowing, government debt stock and growth.

 ECON 519 Financial Economics I

This course is a first course of a two-course introduction to modern theories of corporate finance.  Beginning with the neoclassical and tradeoff models, the course continues with agency problems and asymmetric information. By the end of the two-course sequence, students will have a working knowledge of the main tools of corporate finance research, and be equipped to begin independent research.

ECON 520 Financial Economics II

This course is a first course of a two-course introduction to modern theories of corporate finance. It focuses on a select group of current topics, including diversification, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, financial development, corporate governance, and politics and finance. By the end of the two-course sequence, students will have a working knowledge of the main tools of corporate finance research, and be equipped to begin independent research.

ECON 521 Financial Economics III

This course is devoted to the analysis of theoretical asset pricing models.  Among the topics included are the predictability of return and cash flows in the stock, bond, foreign exchange and real estate markets.

ECON 522 Financial Economics IV

This course covers the empirical asset pricing models, focusing on the predictability of return and cash flows in the stock, bond, foreign exchange and real estate markets. Econometric methods developed for testing the models will be analyzed in detail.