Economics

This course provides an introduction on the theory and practice of investment management. It covers various asset classes, the method of asset allocation, the optimization of asset portfolio, the valuation of stocks and bonds, and the use and valuation of derivative assets. Other topics include the logic of investment optimization, function and structure of financial markets, evaluation of individual securities, application of derivatives trading, and principles of controlling market risks with derivatives.

This course offers an introduction to antitrust as a mechanism for keeping private power under control. It goes beyond black letter law and integrates legal rules within the broader societal and historical developments that have shaped their enactment and evolution. Instead of discussing antitrust as a set-in-stone collection of rules and case law, the course presents antitrust as a living body that adapts to changes in technology, ideology, and politics.

This course provides an overview over the literature in economics on topics related to gender, work, and the family. The course covers topics such as female and male labor force participation, the gender wage gap, marriage and divorce, fertility, domestic violence, women’s empowerment within the household and societies. 

This course explains human behavior through the lens of economists using economic reasoning to answer questions as diverse as the following: Why would your teacher cheat? Which factors cause crime rates to go down? Why do countries fail sometimes? The course uses texts that popularize economic concepts to illustrate how different social phenomena can be understood by applying the tools of economic analysis. However, the course also discusses possible limitations of the economic approach to social issues. This course reviews, challenges, and debates on firmly established ideas about the world, society, and ourselves.

This course examines episodes of crises and instability in order to understand how their key dynamics are embedded within historical, institutional and social contexts. It examines why some crises have a cyclical character while others do not, and how crisis contains elements to unlock the secrets of present-day and future sources of instability.

​​​​​​This course provides an introduction to the field of marketing and covers: marketing management process; market research; creating product offerings through product development; pricing strategies; delivering value through supply chain decisions; service strategies; and communicating to markets both through personal and impersonal media. Course participants must have a basic understanding of statistics and regression, and be able to work with a statistical software like Stata, SPSS, or Jamovi. The course assumes students have completed the courses Statistics (ECB1STAT) and Econometrics (ECB2METRIE), or equivalent, as a prerequisite.