Economics

Economic and especially wealth inequality in the US is rising, along with the number of and power exerted by billionaires, multibillionaires, and multinational enterprises (MNEs). While taxes count as one key instrument to reduce inequalities, the most affluent individuals and corporations seem to make use of multiple pathways to circumvent their tax obligations and thereby harm the redistributive effect of taxation. In this seminar, students will become familiar with general economic and sociological theories on tax evasion and avoidance, and challenge the view of tax havens as Caribbean island paradises, where the rich and famous store their money. We will discuss ways in which tax evasion works, the impact of tax havens on regional and global inequality, historical developments of tax havens, and economic approaches to measure tax evasion. Students are expected to have knowledge or the willingness to learn basic sociological as well as economic concepts and theories such as tradeoffs, opportunity costs, and expected utility theory. 

Environmental economics provides theories and techniques, which help students understand some important and controversial issues, such as climate change, nuclear power, recycling policy, and traffic congestion charging. Frameworks taught at the course can be used to evaluate various important policy questions such as: should air regulations be tightened or loosened? Does economic development necessarily result in a high environmental price? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? What are the costs of climate change in the UK and other countries? Analysis of various political facets of environmental policymaking are an important part of the course. 

This course delves into the unique economic dynamics of urban spaces, examining the interaction between land use, transportation, housing markets, public policy, and urban development. Through theoretical frameworks and empirical analysis, students gain a comprehensive understanding of how economic principles apply to the complexities of urban environments. Topics include: Does it matter where you live? Why do cities exist? The Four quadrant model, Roback Model, Land Use Patterns and Rents, Monocentric City Model and its applications, The Role of Cities and City Size, Neighborhood Quality and Sorting, Regional Economies, Regional Growth and Development Model,  Suburbanization, Subcenters, and Urban Sprawl, Zoning, Highway Congestion, Local Government and Property Tax, Trade Liberalization and Local Labor Market, and Housing Policy.

This course offers a dynamic exploration of the current and emerging regulatory frameworks guiding Digital Finance or FinTech. It closely examines how laws and regulations across key markets, including the UK, EU, and US, are adapting, striving for a balance between fostering innovation and mitigating risks.

International trade as a field of economics has changed a lot in the past two decades. Previously, we employ some toy models to understand the principles of international trade. These principles are insightful, but they cannot provide us tools to understand the issues in practice. The recent decades development in international trade has shifted the focus from the earlier intensely discussed principles to more practical, sophisticate observations in international trade. We employ recently available data at firm level or transaction level to understand trade intermediary, finance, R&D, resource allocation, firm dynamics, offshoring, etc. These recent developments in international research is important for us to fully understand how a world with open economies works and how some most important movements of factors, goods and services affect our welfare. The objective of this course is to guide undergraduate students from understanding some basic international economics principles to try to investigate and understand how exactly international trade in practice is conducted and shape the world.

This course introduces students to the key ideas of Game Theory and strategic thinking, allowing them to use game theoretic tools to analyze real world problems. Students see applications in industrial organization, auctions, competition and cooperation, voting, solving environment problems, and arms races.

This introduction to Natural Resource Economics examines the scarcity and optimal allocation of freshwater resources in the Western Cape, South Africa. The theoretical framework is neo-classical microeconomics, market failure, and climate change are being addressed. Assessment: tests and essays (40%), final examination (60%).

This course is directed advanced Bachelor students as a way of learning about the role of the state economic policies (especially fiscal policies) in the economy in a manner that combines theoretical and empirical learning with practical experiences, case studies, debates and most of all much student engagement. It conveys a sound economic and policy understanding regarding the role of the state and public expenditure, including at the multilateral level. This includes theoretical and empirical concepts and extensive applications and policy discussion on the history of public spending, government “performance” and reform, fiscal sustainability and fiscal risks, financing constraints for government, and the role of fiscal rules from a comparative international perspective. It would also include three sessions on international public goods, their financing and the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs).

This course explores the microeconomic foundations of development economics. Students discuss topics such as poverty traps, labor markets, human capital, gender, public goods/service delivery and taxation, infrastructure, among others. In studying each of these topics, students ask: what determines decision-making in low- and middle-income countries? What constraints do agents face? Is there scope to improve livelihoods through the actions of market participants, governments, international organizations (e.g. World Bank) and NGOs? What policies have been tried in different countries and how have they fared? This course places emphasis on developing analytical understanding of applied issues, while combining theory and empirical evidence.