Economics

This course offers an overview of different theories related to economics and justice to analyze issues such as the trade-off between equity and efficiency. The course discusses questions including: How do these theories operationalize equity? How do they deal with the trade-off between equity and efficiency? And how can they be incorporated in economic models? The course focuses in particular on Dworkin’s theory of equality of resources and Roemer’s theory of equality of opportunity. Dworkin’s theory makes use of devices such as auctions and hypothetical insurance markets that economists are very familiar with. Roemer has shown that his theory can be formulated in terms that can be tested empirically in different domains (e.g. income, education, health care). The course consists of lectures and working groups.

This course focuses on developing understanding of contemporary global issues, including economic well-being, sustainable growth, emerging economies, world trade and globalization. 

This course examines global economic history from 1500 to 1900 through a “polycentric” and “connected histories” framework, moving beyond traditional Eurocentric narratives. Rather than portraying Europe as the sole driver of economic change, the course highlights the role of Asian, African, and American actors in shaping the global economic order. The course is organized in four parts: (1) The polycentric world before European expansion; (2) Early connections that modified but did not destroy existing systems; (3) The multiple paths of the Great Divergence, and (4) The consolidation of an unequal world system. The course also integrates environmental and gender perspectives as essential analytical lenses. Key topics include Asian maritime trading systems, global silver flows, plantation economies, the industrial revolution, the Great Divergence debate, and systems of coerced and contractual labor.

This course explores Chinese economic reforms and development since the end of the 1970s, and introduces many of the elements of China's emergence and its potential role in the world economy. It uses China as a case study placing Chinese economic development in a historical and comparative context, exploring the contradiction between the unprecedented economic growth of the past century and the persistence of poverty in rich countries. The course begins with theories of economic growth and poverty and studies economic and social institutions and public policy debates on ways to achieve rising incomes while improving living standards and promoting equality. The first part is on economic development and the most commonly used models of development. The second part covers contracts and development. 

This course provides theoretical foundations and conceptual tools for understanding optimal financial decisions of corporations in terms of economics. Topics include stylized facts in corporate financing; capital structure in the theoretical framework of economics; conceptual framework of capital structures; detailed implications of debt and equity instruments; financing decision of corporations; payout policy; how economic concepts of agency-principal issues and mechanism design can be applied in the field of optimal financial decisions of corporations; the economic implications of internal capital markets and the market for corporate control; and the issues associated with corporate ownership and governance.

This course provides the basic knowledge of econometrics that is essential equipment for any serious economist or social scientist, to a level where the participant would be competent to continue with the study of the subject in a graduate program.