Economics

The course provides a foundation in the economics of regulation, both in relation to theory and in the development of government policy. Regulation economics involves looking at why we regulate some firms and not others and considering how to design effective regulatory constraints when needed. This course combines the economic theory of regulation with examples from Great Britain of how regulatory frameworks work in practice. It identifies the objectives of regulation and consider how a regulator might reach these with perfect information, and analyzes implications of ownership. It also discusses regulatory options when there is asymmetric information. The course critically assesses two core models of price regulation – rate of return, and price caps (RPI-X). It examines how regulators have developed price caps over time to encourage cost efficiency, innovation, investment and output delivery.

This is an introductory course to the management of innovation. Core topics covered in this course include market failures faced by innovating firms, knowledge about the various definitions of innovation and innovative activities, how to search for novel ideas (inside as well as outside of the firms’ boundaries), what tools to use inside and outside of the firm to evaluate promising ideas efficiently and accurately, ways to acquire external financing in case of cash flow constraints, tools to use to increase appropriability of innovations as well as various forms to develop innovations inside and outside of the firm. In examples, cases, and an assignment students work out in practice how to assess the feasibility and desirability of innovation opportunities and how to manage innovation from the first idea to implementing an innovation plan. PREREQUISITES: Basic knowledge of management/business economics, organization, and strategy.

This seminar presents and discusses the key institutions that govern market economies, seen as political and legal constructs. The focus is on core institutions like private property rights and its alternatives, all sorts of debts, wage labor and its variants or the architecture of individual markets (like those for global commodities or microcredit). A lot of attention is given to State institutions, including indeed the courts and the law, though non-State actors also play a great role in the regulation and maintenance of markets. Their mutual relations are of course of major interest. Every lecture is based on examples drawn from either developed or developing countries, today or in the more or less distant past, accompanied by readings of an article or book chapter.

In this course, students analyze education policy through the lens of economics. There are discussions of rigorous economic arguments for or against different types of policies. The course also examines the best empirical evidence on these arguments.

The course covers the basic principles and methods of financial engineering, the conceptual tools and substantive tools that financial engineers must possess, and the use of financial engineering principles and methods to solve financial problems in practice, which lays a theoretical foundation for future practical work or research. In the financial market, both enterprises that need financing and financial investors face two basic problems: financial product pricing and investment risk management. This course focuses on these two major issues: risk portfolio model based on utility theory and capital asset pricing model; option futures pricing model based on risk-free arbitrage equilibrium.

The course introduces students to the basic theoretical and empirical literature on how labor markets have evolved over time and across countries. In particular, it will enable students to apply the tools of analysis to a wide range of models and policy relating to the question of who and how much we work: over time, over the life-cycle, and in the household. We focus particularly on female labor force participation, the impact of technological change on the labor market and sectoral shifts. To understand these, students discuss income vs substitution effects, savings decisions, intertemporal substitution of work and consumption, intensive (how many hours?) vs extensive (whether to work) margin labor supply choice. The goal is to develop good economic intuition on these topics, while also discussing the empirical strategies to analyze these labor market outcomes.