Economics

The course provides the key economic concepts and tools for analyzing environmental and urban issues; introduces and explains the application of economic methods to the analysis of the built and natural environments; presents the ways in which sound economic analysis is critical to urban and environmental policy making; and encourages critical debate and reflection on the key environmental and urban policy issues. 

This course focuses on the key issues in contemporary international relations., with the goal of learning the concepts and theories of IR useful to making sense of contemporary debates and developments in international politics. Focus is on the study of current events and the recent history that has shaped the international system, with specific attention devoted to foreign policy stances of big powers (the United States, China, and Russia), and to two topical international actors (the European Union and the United Nations). The second part of the course studies big trends and on-going international crises, including the rise of the Global South, the Ukraine War, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. This is followed by exploration of the four "Global challenges": energy security and climate change; migration; Africa's development; and digitalization and cybersecurity. 

It is impossible to obtain a full picture of Japanese economic history without understanding how global and international relationships shaped the economy of the country. This course surveys recent scholarship on economic history of Japan, East Asia, and the rest of the world in the past few centuries. Most of the reading materials emphasize global and international perspectives in the analysis of economic history.  The course discusses a wide range of key topics and methodologies in the study of Japanese economic history.

This course helps the students to acquire basic knowledge about bank and fintech business models and risks; understand the functioning of contemporary financial technologies and discuss their merits and flaws; evaluate the impact of digitalization and fintech firm entrants on the banking sector.

This course introduces banks and their business models and discusses how trends in financial technologies affect the banking sector. The course combines academic rigour and literature review with practical insights from case studies, e.g., based on financial statements and industry reports. 

First, we will discuss the role of banks in the financial system and why they exist. We briefly introduce the business model of banks and take a closer look at their balance sheets. We focus on the different aspects of how banks are managed and issues relating to banks’ asset and funding structure and then analyse the various risks they are exposed to, their measurement, and how banks manage these risks. 

Second, regarding FinTech and digital disruption in banking, we will develop a conceptual framework that guides us in thinking about innovation in banking and briefly introduce the financial technologies which enable respective innovation and disruption and the policies around them (e.g., Open Banking/PSD2). We then focus on analysing the business model of new fintech firm entrants competing with incumbent banks and how the use of financial technologies enhances banks’ business models. We will cover fintech lending as a complement or substitute to traditional bank lending. Finally, we peruse applications of distributed ledger technology in banking and financial markets, such as blockchains and smart contract based financial protocols, and discuss how they disrupt traditional financial intermediation processes.

This course teaches how economic and psychological factors affect economic decisions of individuals, focusing on their bounded rationality. Each class is composed of two parts. The first half of the class explains the basic concepts and principles of Behavioral Economics; the second half introduces a few research articles to bolster student discussion of related research questions. 

This course develops one's understandig of economic phenomena through analyzing evolutions of Japanese economy over the past decades and their interactions with economic policies, including monetary, fiscal, financial regulation policies, trade and industrial policy. The discussion encompasses the high-speed growth period of the '60s; the hyper-inflation age of the '70s; the financial bubble of the '80s; the financial crises of the '90s and 2000s, as well as the successive deflationary decades extended through the launch of the new policies - Abenomics and beyond. 
 

This course introduces the fundamental principles of economics and business administration. The course explores two main themes: academic research in college and corporate business. Through a dynamic combination of lectures, group presentations, and discussions, students acquire both theoretical knowledge and practical skills crucial for their academic and professional endeavors.  

This course covers methodologies of empirical regional/development economics, such as: 

(1) How to conduct field surveys;

(2) How to use RCTs and micro-econometric methods, and 

(3) How to read journal articles and how to prepare referee reports.

Course Prerequisites: Intermediate/advanced microeconomics and econometrics.

This course introduces basic principles of the circular economy and the strategies, market arrangements, and regulatory landscapes that set barriers and enablers for circular transitions. The course is intensive and follows a problem-based learning approach, where students develop novel solutions to a real-world challenge posed by a case company that aspires to go circular. The class requires active participation from students, with classroom activities and discussions as well as working in project teams inside and outside the classroom. It facilitates learning by doing, learning by observing, and learning by explaining and critical reflecting. Students are supported in their learning process with coaching in collaboration with the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship.