Economics

This course introduces analytical tools and recent topics in industrial organization related to the digital economy.

It provides students with theoretical tools for equilibrium analysis of oligopolistic competition, both useful for research in both empirical and theoretical industrial organization. These tools include discrete choice models, basic contract theory, and some theories of particular games such as aggregative games and supermodular games.  Additionally, it provides students with theoretical frameworks to analyze recent market phenomena in the digital economy such as platform’s business strategies and competition in online markets.

This course investigates various economic issues of South and North Korean economics without serious economic theory. The course covers the economic development differences between North and South Korean economies; the history of both economies after WWII,; trade between North and South Korean economy; each country’s export and import; each economy’s labor market, and each economy’s current situation. For a better understanding of Korean economic issues, the course employs economic concepts like GDP, inflation, unemployment, interest rate, and etc. 

This course introduces undergraduate students to the empirical aspects of international trade. It analyzes the causes and consequences of international trade both in developed and developing countries, with a special emphasis on the role of firms.  After an introduction on key stylized facts of international trade, the course studies the published-work in international trade: trade from the point of view of individual firms. The course discusses various topics such as trade policy, trade liberalization, inequality and Global Supply Chains. 

Recommended prerequisites: 2nd year basic microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics. Basic understanding of applied-microeconomics is desirable (not essential).

This course provides students with fundamental financial concepts and theories as well as the applications in making corporate financial decisions. Part I introduces basic concepts in finance such as financial assets, opportunity cost, PVs, FVs, and NPVs. Part II demonstrates how to make firm investment decisions based on the calculation of project PV and other criteria. Part III explains why the opportunity cost of capital (the required rate of return, or the discount rate) is determined in the security market, or, the CAPM. Part IV discusses financing decisions, mainly how to financing with debt and equity and decide the optimal capital structure. 

Dynamics in the Chinese financial markets has attracted much international attention. This course provides an understanding of how the Chinese financial markets originated and developed, what reforms have been done, the Chinese characteristics, and the challenges and difficulties in future reforms. Starting with a comprehensive introduction, the course covers the major financial markets in China, including the central bank and the banking system, the security market and the foreign exchange market. The topics discussed for each market include the fundamental concepts and theories; the history and facts in China; a comparison of the domestic and international systems; examples and cases; and future reforms. 

This course offers a critical view on the current mainstream economic and financial model, including its exhaustion, contradictions, and unsustainability. It explores the potential that a new approach to the use of money could have to overcome the main global challenges that society faces, and which are mainly caused by the current economic and financial model. The course presents a new approach based on the alignment between social, ethical, and environmental aspirations on the one hand, and on the management of economic and financial activity on the other.

This course aims to  understand issues in global health and to utilize econometric methodologies to improve health policies in one's own countries. The first half of this course discusses global health/health systems reforms in the Asia-Pacific Region while the second half introduces impact evaluation by presenting a detailed analysis of quantitative research underlying recent program evaluations and case studies. This course works extensively with Stata.

Students are required to have basic knowledge on statistics and econometrics.

This course covers the basics of “traditional” microeconomics, the so-called “price theory:” the analysis of the perfect competition and its application. This course covers: market, demand, supply and the equilibrium; consumer behavior and utility maximization; firm behavior and profit maximization; market failure (imperfect competition, imperfect information, externality, and public goals) and economic policy; taxes and subsidies, income distribution, etc. 

This course studies economists' way of viewing, explaining, and predicting the world, focusing on microeconomics principles that demonstrate the decision making of individuals, including consumer, firm and individual industry. It emphasizes applications and polices rather than formal economic theory. 

This course explores how sustainability and social justice have evolved from isolated considerations to interrelated frameworks that jointly influence policy decisions. Discussions focus on understanding sustainable development through the diverse worldviews of local communities, businesses, and governments in emerging markets. The course not only examines sustainability from ecological and economic perspectives but also incorporates ethical and social considerations, particularly issues of intergenerational fairness and justice. The course specifically discusses and contrasts the concept of sustainability for social justice within the operations of both local and multinational corporations in emerging markets. It frames these discussions in the context of the unintended impacts that business investments can have on biodiversity, human rights, and global value chains. Special attention is given to the challenges businesses face in mitigating and adapting to climate change within their operations. The course provides the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the intricacies of sustainability, with a special emphasis on human rights, biodiversity, and global value chains in emerging markets. Supported by academic theory and real-world case studies, the course adopts a holistic, social-sciences perspective on current sustainability concepts. This comprehensive approach facilitates the design and evaluation of governmental and corporate policies and practices to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future.

Industrial organization is one of the most important applied areas of microeconomics. It takes a close look at how markets work, how traders (firms, consumers, etc.) interact in a market either strategically or otherwise, and how exogenous environments, including policy variables, affect the market and the participants therein. This class provides an overview of the basics of industrial organization theory, empirics, and some of the state-of-art research.  

This course analyzes firms’ behavior under imperfect competition by using microeconomics; price theory and game theory. It deals with the following topics: monopoly and monopsony, duopoly (with price/quantity competition), differentiation and compatibility, entry deterrence, location choice, timing selection, investment and R&D, vertical integration, mixed duopoly, etc. 

Prerequisite: PRINCIPLE OF MICROECONOMICS and GAME THEORY. Students are highly recommended to take this course after INTRODUCTION OF MATHEMATICS TO ECONOMICS.