Economics

This course enables students to explore key concepts in the economics of work and pay, labor market theory, and the theory of personnel economics. Students develop an understanding of how these tools can be used to address theoretical, applied, and policy problems. Students also learn the nature and role of the labor market in the UK. Students master the core concepts of labor economics theory and the theory of personnel economics and then use those theories to analyze real-world labor market phenomena such as how pays are set, why there is wage inequality and unemployment. Students also evaluate the case for the use of the theory in designing reforms of the labor markets.

This course provides an introduction to finance. The course starts with a brief discussion of the functions of financial systems, an overview of existing financial assets, financial intermediaries and markets, and an introduction to firm types and firms’ financial statements. The first part of the course deals with the time value of money and its applications: understanding interest rates and valuing bonds. The second part addresses investment decisions by firms and explains the basics of project and firm valuation. The course then introduces the notions of risky assets, risky returns, and risk aversion and highlights the benefits of diversification. It presents the foundations of portfolio theory and the central model of equilibrium asset pricing, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, before highlighting some of their important applications. The last part of the course discusses the efficient market hypothesis and the contending theories of behavioral finance. Basic knowledge of probability and statistics is a prerequisite for the course.

This course offers a study on competition regulation and policy. Topics include: the need for regulation and regulatory instruments; regulation in the presence of complete information--regulation of a natural monopoly; regulation in the presence of asymmetric information; legal framework-- conduct control, structure control, and state aid; theoretical models-- incentives for horizontal mergers, equilibrium condition to sustain collusion, incentives for vertical integration, and predation; analysis of real competition cases in Spain and Europe.

This course further covers the principles of economics to understand the decision of consumers and producers, market structure and general equilibrium; to use the mathematics tools and make the economic analysis qualitatively and quantitatively. The contents of the course include five parts mainly: introduction, consumer decision, producer decision, market structure, and general equilibrium and welfare. The course focuses on both the introduction of microeconomic theory and the application to the current situation in China.