Economics

This course introduces students to EU competition law. It examines agreements which may restrict competition such as cooperation agreements between competitors, vertical agreements, and cartels. It also examines abuses of dominant position and merger control regulations. Through each of these issues, the course provides an understanding of how EU competition law views the market and competitors. It also emphasize the central role of concepts such as market power, efficiency, and market entry. Finally, the course introduces students to the Digital Market Act.

Econometrics combines economic theory with mathematical and statistical tools to provide estimates that help answer important economic questions. This course focuses on the theoretical underpinnings, practical implementation and interpretation of results from the multiple regression model in cross-sectional data settings. It also introduces panel data, fixed effects regression, and instrumental variables regression

This course provides a solid and global understanding of contemporary developments and challenges in the field of energy. It provides insight and overview to the particularities of the oil and gas industry, climate developments, renewables, the electricity sector, energy efficiency, and international energy affairs. Resource management in major producing countries is outlined. Energy economics and regulation is discussed both for renewable and non-renewable resources, for the environment and the prospects for a greener economy.

This course is intended for students who have completed the instructor's Public Finance course. The courses addresses the following aspects of theory: introduction to taxation theory and practice; positive analysis (equity): tax incidence; positive analysis (efficiency): excess burden, and normative analysis: Optimal Taxation. Next, the course addresses the following topics of practice: budget deficit and government debt; fiscal federalism: local government and finance; personal income tax, and consumption/property tax.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. The objective of this course is to provide an advanced-level overview of the institutions, policies, and politics concerning economic governance in the European Union (EU). The course examines the process of European economic integration; the formulation, adoption, and implementation of the main economic policies in the EU, and the impact these policies have on member states. The course covers a variety of topics, including an overview of the institutions and policy processes in the EU economic governance; theories of European integration, and EU governance and political economy; Single Market and competition policy; Economic and Monetary Union; governing finance in the EU and internationally; the political economy of Brexit; the financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, and the EU response; and the EU's economic responses to the pandemic.

This course focuses on the dynamic implications of the links between the prevailing unprecedented global resource extraction and utilization; high input-high output industrial production, and resource scarcity. This allows one to conceive the relationships between the consequences of overexploitation of resources and irreversible material transformation in the production system, and their crucially important implications for resource efficiency and environmental efficiency.  

This course also seeks to guide students to make mental connections across disciplines with real life experiences based on comprehensive synthesis of evidence of the unsustainable resource consumption and sustainability practices in resource management. Here, it places great emphasis in developing critical thinking and analytical skills among students in identifying policy responses to the economic and environmental effects of overexploitation of natural resources.  

The foregoing takes the class to a broad-spectrum of debates relating to the properties of natural resources; the principles of resource efficiency; resource sustainability and environmental efficiency; environmental impacts of irreversible input-output resource conversions, and sustainable resource consumption and conservation, among other subjects of interest. 

This course covers key issues in energy and environmental economics from an economist’s perspective. Energy markets have become some of the most crucial and dynamic markets of the world economy, as they experienced a shift from heavy regulation to market-driven incentives. The course first looks at different energy sources such as crude oil, natural gas and coal. It then focuses on the crude oil market, highlighting how market power, optimal extraction, technological development and geopolitical risks are intertwined for price determination. The course also focuses on how changes in energy prices and uncertainties surrounding the price dynamics affect economic activity. Next, the course switches to environmental problems, and what types of policy tools can be employed to solve some of these problems. It discusses the economics for a broad range of possible policies: environmental taxes, subsidies, and cap-and-trade. In doing so, it discusses fundamental concepts in environmental economics, such as externalities and the challenge of designing multilateral agreements.

Prerequisite: Intermediate Macroeconomics Intermediate Microeconomics