Economics

This course studies important economic problems that emerged in Japan in the last few decades as well as their causes. The goal of the class is to deepen an understanding of contemporary Japanese economy and its relations to the world economy.

The course aims provides students with a thorough understanding of core techniques of quantitative economics and econometrics and their application to test economic theories and measure magnitudes relevant for economic policy and other decisions, as a foundation for subsequent study of quantitative topics within the degree programme, and as one of the key elements in the professional training of an economist.

Chinese political economy covers both major theoretical and practical perspectives of exploring Chinese political economy. This course will focus on the political and economic reforms in China since the beginning of the reform and opening-up. It will utilize theoretical perspectives from political science, economics and sociology to systematically analyze the key theoretical and practical issues of China's reform. These issues include the party-state relationship, state capacity, cadre selection and promotion, fiscal and taxation reforms, central-local relations, digital political economy, and government responsiveness. The course aims to clarify the core logic and operational mechanisms of China's reform，and clarify the key advantages of Chinese political economy institutions. The design, content and format of this course are aimed optimally to benefit students in both knowledge accumulation and practical orientation.

This course focuses on multivariate linear regression model with OLS (basic notions) and multivariate linear regression model with OLS 2/2 (main issues). Topics include: assumptions, Gauss-Markov theorem, Partialling-out interpretation; endogeneity: the omitted variable problem, instrumental variables, testing endogeneity, testing overidentification restrictions; proxy variable as solution to the omitted variable problem; measurement error in dependent variable; heteroskedasticity.

This course provides students with a basic understanding of the key economic issues involved in the emerging market economies. Students learn to analyze the interaction between economic factors and institutional, political, and social factors in the formulation and implementation of economic policies in emerging economies, including transition economies.

This courses uses ten topics to explore how the global economy emerged in the past and how global trade and global empires changed the world. The first part of the course traces the connection between European colonial empires and the making of the global economy until the Industrial Revolution, and how the rise of the West impacted other world regions. The second part of the course discusses globalization and deglobalization and the shifts of global economic power in the modern age. This is modern economic history in a global context and focuses mainly on non-European regions.

This course explores how labor markets work and analyzes a wide range of labor issues within Japanese and US economies. Each class begins with the theoretical background of labor economics, then students analyze a related research article to understand how and whether the standard, neo-classical model is applied to real economic life. 

The regular version of this course is worth 3.0 UC quarter units. The Q version of this course is worth 4.5 UC quarter units. Students must submit a special study project form which outlines the requirements for the additional units. This is typically an additional paper graded by the instructor of the course.

In this course, students study econometric methods to analyze individual-level data (microdata). The course starts by studying core policy evaluation methods, then covers various extensions, and finally reviews limited dependent variable models. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on (a) agents’ choice and selection into treatment, and (b) heterogeneities in treatment impact. Related to these keywords, the lectures answer the following questions: What are appropriate econometric techniques to measure policy impact when assignment to the policy (treatment) is not random? What is the econometric framework to measure policy impact when the policy impact is heterogeneous among the individuals?

This course provides a rigorous treatment of the core concepts and skills in security investments and portfolio management. The main focus is on the trade-off between risk and return, which will be analyzed in a mean variance framework. Along this line, two main theories of asset pricing will be explained: the Capital Asset Pricing Model and Arbitrage Pricing Theory. The empirical tests of these two theories will also be discussed.

The course presents an introduction to the economic theory of the public sector. The topics covered include public goods, externalities, education, health care, pensions, redistribution, collective decision making and cost-benefit analysis.  A prerequisite for this course is a basic course in microeconomics.