Graduate Courses

ECN 501 Macroeconomic Analysis (3-0-3). Concentration on macroeconomics, the money and banking system, and national income and employment analysis. For M.B.A. students only; candidates for the M.A. in Economics may not include this course as part of their required 33 hours.

ECN 502 Microeconomic Analysis (3-0-3). Emphasis on microeconomics, theory of consumer behavior and of the firm, and the pricing process in markets. For M.B.A. students only; candidates for the M.A. in Economics may not include this course as part of their required 33 hours.

ECN 503 Economic Concepts (3-0-3). A survey of microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts. Topics include supply and demand, comparative advantage, marginal and sunk costs, market structure, profits, aggregate fluctuations, money, and fiscal and monetary policy. This course is intended for M.B.A. candidates. Candidates for the M.A. in Economics may not include this course as part of their required 33 hours, nor to fulfill program prerequisites.

ECN 511 American Economic History (3-0-3). Prerequisites: Intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Examination of the economic theories underlying the development of the American economy. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 515 History of Economic Analysis (3-0-3). Prerequisites: Intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Development of economic theories and their relationship to each other, from ancient to modern schools of thought. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 516 Comparative Economic Systems (3-0-3). Prerequisites: Intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Analysis of selected economic systems with an emphasis on economic planning. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 541 Business Fluctuations and Forecasting (4-0-4). Prerequisite: Intermediate macroeconomics or equivalent. Nature and causes of business fluctuations, business cycle theories, methods of forecasting GDP, inflation, and unemployment; micro-foundations of macroeconomic forecasting equations dealing with consumption functions, investment function, demand for money, Okun’s law, Phillip’s curve, price equation.

ECN 550 Economics of Law (4-0-4). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomics or equivalent. The concepts of public and private goods, externalities, and benefits versus cost are used to analyze the effects and efficiency of property, contract, tort, and criminal law. In addition, the trade-offs are examined in such areas as plea bargaining, trial versus settlement of civil cases, and various arrangements for payment of legal costs.

ECN 561 Public Expenditures (3-0-3). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomics. Introduction to public sector economics, including welfare economics and the role of the public sector in a mixed economy; public expenditure theory; and economic analysis of various federal government expenditure programs. Offered on sufficient demand.

ECN 562 Taxation (3-0-3). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomics. Economic theory of taxation; economic analysis of federal taxation, including the person income, corporate, and social security taxes; and analysis of such state and local taxes as property and sales. Offered on sufficient demand.

ECN 570 Urban and Regional Economics (3-0-3). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomic theory. Location theory of the firm and industry, industrial locational patterns, land use patterns, measurement of economic activity and regional trade; regional hierarchies and systems of cities; techniques of regional analysis; base theory, local multipliers, input-output analysis, gravity, potential, and spatial interaction models. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 572 Urban Manpower Problems (3-0-3). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomic theory. Intensive analysis of labor markets; wages and income determination and distribution; structural versus demand unemployment; productivity and the supply of labor; technology and changes in demand for labor; unemployment and urban poverty; job security, wage and hour regulation; training and manpower policies. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 574 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (4-0-4). Prerequisite: Intermediate microeconomic theory. Analysis of the causes of environmental problems using the concepts of public goods and externalities. Examination of the impact and efficiency of regulatory approaches in controlling pollution and congestion. Externality and sustainability issues involving the rate of exploitation of natural resources are explored. Both positive and normative economic reasoning are applied to the related issues of population size, economic-ecological interactions, and future prospects for humanity.

ECN 582 International Economics (4-0-4). Prerequisites: Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics. The determinants of comparative advantage and the pattern of international trade; the gains from trade and the effects of trade restrictions; trade, growth and development; the balance of payments; the economics of exchange rates; macroeconomics in an open economy.

ECN 585 Economics of Development and Growth (4-0-4). Prerequisites: ECN 302 (Intermediate Microeconomics). A theoretical approach to development problems of the less-developed nations; comparison of growth theories; inequality and economic development; population and growth; the impact of development on rural and urban sectors; market failures and government policies; international assistance.

ECN 610 Mathematical Economics for Economists (2-0-2). Prerequisite: Calculus I or equivalent. An examination of calculus of one and several variables. The calculus concepts of partial and total differentiation, and first and second order derivatives will be discussed in the context of economic analysis and optimization. Elements of matrix algebra will be studied for their application in solving systems of equations and understanding conditions related to optimization. The course provides a basic mathematical foundation for other graduate economics courses.

ECN 622 Statistical Methods for Economists (3-0-3). Prerequisite: Business Statistics I (OMS 201) or equivalent. Econometric methods and their applications; regression analysis and its extensions.

ECN 625 Econometrics (4-0-4). Prerequisite: ECN 610 and ECN 622 or equivalents. Classical least squares assumptions for simple and multiple regression; estimation; associated statistics, e.g., R2, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals; scaling; prediction; dummy variables; hetroscedasticity; autoregressive disturbances; multicollinearity; certain types of specification error; lagged relationships; simultaneous equilibrium models; limited dependent variable models; time series topics.

ECN 633 Advanced Microeconomics (4-0-4). Prerequisites or co-requisites: ECN 610 or equivalent and Intermediate Microeconomics. Consumer theory: choice and demand under certainty and uncertainty, intertemporal choice; production, input demand and cost, supply, and perfect competitive markets and applications.

ECN 635 Competition and Strategy (4-0-4). Prerequisites or co-requisites: ECN 610 or equivalent and Intermediate Microeconomics. Organization of firms and markets in imperfectly competitive industries. Internal organizational strategies (scale and scope, make-or-buy, centralization vs. decentralization, etc.), and external competitive strategies (pricing, product choice, advertising, entry and exit, R&D, etc.), as well as their mutual interdependence are analyzed.

ECN 643 Advanced Macroeconomics (4-0-4). Prerequisite: ECN 610 or equivalent and Intermediate Macroeconomics. An analytical examination of the forces that determine the level of national income, employment, prices and economic growth under the classical, Keynesian, and post-Keynesian assumptions; Ricardian equivalence, time inconsistency issue, growth models, macroeconomic policy.

ECN 654 Financial Economics (4-0-4). Prerequisite: ECN 633. Monetary systems; financial markets; financial intermediation; risk; term structure of interest rates; models of stock and bond prices; capital asset pricing model; financial derivatives; the efficient markets hypothesis; central banking; monetary theory.

ECN 656 Monetary Theory and Policy (3-0-3). Prerequisite: ECN 654. Monetary theories, supply and demand for money, and the instruments of monetary control, including the influence of monetary policy on money and capital markets; examination of proposed alternate monetary policies. Offered only on sufficient demand.

ECN 675 Labor Economics (4-0-4). Prerequisite: Economics MA Program students or Permission of the instructor.  Analysis of labor market issues such as labor supply and demand, wage inequality, human capital formation, unemployment, the minimum wage, labor mobility and unions.  Considers policy applications including school quality choices and the effect of health and safety regulations.

ECN 694 Special Topics in Economics (credit as arranged, maximum of 4 credit hours). Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Course title and content may change from term to term.

ECN 695 Seminar in Economics (credit as arranged, maximum of 4 credit hours). Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. The seminar would be in a focused area of economics; and would require class presentations by students and out-of-class writing assignments as well as any other assignments chosen by the instructor.