Economics

This course provides a conceptual and practical introduction to modern empirical methods used in economics and finance. It begins by discussing how empirical research questions are developed, the role of descriptive analysis, and the distinction between correlation and causation. The course then introduces causality, experiments, and the challenges of identification using observational data. Building on this foundation, the course covers core empirical strategies widely used in applied research, including instrumental variables, difference-in-differences, matching and weighting methods, synthetic control, and regression discontinuity designs. The latter part of the course focuses on assessing empirical credibility through robustness checks, falsification tests, sensitivity analysis, and external validity, as well as deepening interpretation through treatment heterogeneity and mechanism analysis. Throughout the course, students engage with influential empirical papers to understand how leading researchers design and defend empirical studies in practice.

This introductory course in economics focuses on the major economic issues and phenomena that are routinely encountered in daily discussion of events in the media. 

This course is an introduction to analyzing the economy as a whole. Topics include the determination of national income, unemployment, inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate, as well as monetary and fiscal policy.

This course covers both major theoretical and practical perspectives of exploring Chinese Political Economy. It utilize theoretical perspectives from political science, economics to systematically analyze the key theoretical and practical issues of China's reform. It will clarify the core logic and mechanisms of China's development and governance. 

The course provides a group of undergraduate students across the university with the opportunity to work in a small cross-disciplinary team setting and solve a business problem presented by a live business client. The academic component of the course is comprised of a series of master classes delivered by academic experts and industry professionals. Under the supervision of the course convenor and the support of designated industry mentors, students will apply their theoretical knowledge in practice by working on innovative solutions that address the specified business issue from the live business client that is located in Australia or overseas. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course, students: have an understanding of types of intellectual property rights, innovation and market failures, private and social value of innovations, and models of R&D investment, and are familiar with the economic policy debate undergirding the reinforcement or weakening of intellectual property; know how to analyze the drivers of companies’ strategic choices concerning innovation protection. Course contents include: Patents, copyrights and trade secrets; Market failures: Knowledge as a public good; Private and social value of innovations; Models of investment in R&D; Optimal life of intellectual property right; The optimal combination of breadth and length; Sequential innovations; Complementary innovation; Prizes v. intellectual property; Trade secrets.

This course introduces modern financial economics. After reviewing essential mathematics and learning Python basics, it studies foundational topics such as portfolio choice, mean-variance analysis, and asset pricing. It also examines how intertemporal decisions shape asset prices and explore classic puzzles, including the equity premium puzzle and excess volatility puzzle.  

Course Prerequisites: Familiarity with basic Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Econometrics. No prior knowledge of Python is required.

This course focuses on understanding the performance of a country’s economy as a whole: what causes it to grow, and why the pace of economic activity varies over time. Students will understand the growth and cyclicality of macroeconomic activity; and the role of firms, financial system and government in driving the economy.

This seminar examines how social relationships shape individual behavior and collective outcomes, integrating perspectives from sociology and economics. It explores how networks, norms, and institutions influence decisions in areas such as marriage markets, immigration, and employment, with attention to public goods and strategic interaction using game-theoretic frameworks. By combining theory with empirical examples, the course shows how social structure and interdependence jointly shape opportunity, cooperation, and inequality.