Economics

This course explores ethics by examining different ethical theories and their influences on economics, governance, and business. The course follows the multidisciplinary approach that we take at the Utrecht University School of Economics and in its bachelor program to broaden your perspective on economics and society. It continues the approach taken in Multidisciplinary Economics, assuming that you have developed sufficient knowledge of the basics of economic thinking. This course trains participants to reflect upon this knowledge and discuss some alternative approaches. This course revolves around and integrates the central topic of Technology and Society, and the social impacts of business in addressing various themes, such as fairness, equality, social responsibility, and sustainability. Prerequisites Knowledge at the level of the course 'Introduction to Economics and Business Economics' is assumed.

Development economics is a relatively new and unique field, emerging after post-World War II decolonization and is unique in certain aspects. This course covers the leading issues in economic development for social science students, promoting a balanced understanding based on theories and empirical research. Starting from a basic understanding of poverty, inequality and economic growth, this class focuses more on international issues that less developed economies face in present time, such as trade, foreign direct investment, balance of payment crisis, and structural adjustment, as well as other policy issues. 

This course aims to develop specialized knowledge in the theories of firms in modern economy, such as: a) analysis of internal organization of firms alternative to markets; (b) employment relationships and how employers motivate employees (the manager-worker agency problem), and (c) managers and incentives (the owner-manager agency problem). By the end of this course, students are expected to exercise an application of knowledge of economic theory to economic organizations.

This course provides an introduction to the analysis of income and wealth distribution, its relation to macroeconomic performance and technical change, and how different policies are linked to distributional outcomes. The first part of the course presents statistical tools for measuring inequalities and, based on these tools, examines the historical trajectory of income and wealth distribution in developed and developing economies. It also discusses how income and wealth inequalities intersect with other socioeconomic factors such as gender and race, and how distribution is affected by the globalization of economic activity and migration. The second part of the course surveys the Classical, the Keynesian, and the Neoclassical approaches to distribution, economic growth, and technical change, and how these approaches provide different explanations for the increasing inequalities and the stagnation of output and productivity growth of the last decades.

This course discusses the psychological foundations of human behavior and their economic implications. It presents the empirical regularities that have inspired the development of behavioral economics, analyzes the key theoretical models that have been brought forward, and discusses a number of applications where insights from behavioral economics have contributed to a better understanding of individual behavior and market outcomes. Topics include fairness and social preferences; reference-dependent preferences and loss aversion; present-biased preferences and limited self control; limited cognitive resources and attention; and behavioral economics, market interactions, and economic policy. Course prerequisites include a thorough knowledge of microeconomic theory (especially game theory and contract theory), microeconometrics, and econometrics.

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practices of economic policy-making. To understand economic policy-making, students take an economic as well as a political perspective. Students focus on the rationale behind economic policies, and seek to understand major changes in economic policy, and variation in policies across countries. Students also look at individual preferences for these policies, and their implications for the policy-making process. In the process, the course covers areas such as economic liberalization, financial regulation, labor market policies, and policies of poverty reduction and social insurance. The course takes an empirical and comparative approach, and its focus is generic, though most of the literature is concerned with policy-making in EU and OECD countries. 

This course presents a broad picture of international migration in recent history and a detailed picture of its recent trends. It introduces the analytical and empirical tools that are necessary to evaluate its impact on the host countries.

The course introduces students to the idea that economics, like all of the natural sciences, can be a laboratory science. Students study the role laboratory experiments can play in testing economic theories, as well as suggesting new ones. This is achieved through a series of topics in experimental economics, including market experiments, individual decision making experiments, and game theory experiments. 

Global Supply Chain Management focuses on why and how companies engage in international supply chain activities. Key topics include motives, barriers, risks, partnership(s), and the global supply chain organization. Coping with various supply chain disruptions is a recurring challenge addressed. Tutorials evolve around student presentations and discussions of relevant literature, case studies, and roleplay. Students regularly present assigned literature or case material, as well as provide additional material such as relevant academic articles, cases, and examples.