Economics

Tracing the history of beer from China in 7000 BCE, through to the impact of US federal law and European Union regulations, this course explores the determinants and drivers of the economics of beer. It includes an examination of the labor market and brewing, technology and innovation, national beer market trends, media and marketing of beer, new and emerging beer markets, cultural and political factors impacting the beer market, and the decline and rise of local, import, and craft beers.

This course explores the transformative role of new information technologies (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in reshaping businesses. Its goal is to equip students with an in-depth understanding of essential economic principles that are crucial for operating and excelling in IT-enabled and/or AI-driven enterprises, while also highlighting the economic ramifications of IT and AI at various levels - including individual firms, broader markets, and society as a whole.  

Students will delve into competitive market analysis and examine IT-specific economic challenges related to pricing, bundling, information asymmetry, and uncertainty. In addition, the module covers AI-centric topics such as automated decision-making and the broader economic effects of AI technologies. Key economic issues associated with IT (such as competitive markets, pricing strategies, and bundling) and foundational concepts like user lock-in, switching costs, and the network effect are discussed. Participants also gain insights into the workings of AI-enabled businesses and address AI-specific economic concerns, including automated decisions, algorithmic bias, and the influence of AI technologies on the job market. 

This course covers processes and theories of government taxation, examining two traditional roles of government in relation to market mechanisms: the provision of public goods and services, and the provision of social insurance and income redistribution. 

This course is not only about theoretical analysis of the abstract expenditure programs, but also about specific institutions and policy debates in Korean context. 

First and second year levels of microeconomics are prerequisite. It is also recommended that students are equipped with mathematical skills related to economics. 

Some of the supplementary materials are written in Korean, thus some Korean language familiarity is recommended; although the materials will be explained in English, some of the terminologies cannot be translated.  

This course introduces the basic tools of game theory and its applications to business choices. The course covers normal form and extensive form games, games of perfect and imperfect/incomplete information, and introduces equilibrium concepts such as Nash equilibrium, subgame-perfect equilibrium and perfect Bayesian equilibrium. It also looks at repeated games and the theory of reputation.

This course provides an introduction to the statistical and econometric theory underlying surveys and counterfactual policy evaluations, which have long played a prominent role in democracies' political life. Doing so, it sharpens critical appraisal of the very many surveys and policy evaluations that are to be found in public discourse. This class uses mathematical notation and proofs: students should be motivated to engage with mathematically formalized material.

This course examines environmental issues with the aid of economic theory. Topics include sustainability of economies; pollution as an externality; approaches to dealing with pollution in different countries; methods of valuing the environment and environmental damage; effect on future generations; environmental amenity as a public good; and the environment and economic development.

This course, relying on economic frameworks, explores historical and contemporary Indigenous populations and these peoples’ participation in and marginalization from the contemporary Australian economy and society. Incorporating First Peoples ' diverse perspectives, we consider contemporary First Nations’ and other Indigenous peoples’ economic activities in an historical context. Students have the opportunity to develop insight into First Nations perspectives on economic development, wellbeing and prosperity. We explore First Peoples' innovative responses to contemporary challenges borne of the ongoing impacts of colonization and systemic bias. Topics change each year, and include the continuities of First Peoples’ practices in resource management and communal sustenance; innovative engagements with the settler and global economy; demographic and population change; land, water and sea rights; human capital development; income and wealth; participation in the labor market; and, entrepreneurship. 

This course has two main objectives. The first is to provide introduction to some of the central themes and periods in economic history, ranging from the neolithic agricultural revolution in the Middle East to worldwide economic growth in the 20th and 21st centuries. The second is to introduce some of the main analytical debates in the field. The course provides a broad sense of the major epochs and revolutions in economic history, and demonstrates how economic theory and statistical evidence can help us to understand the real world. It also indicates some of the potential pitfalls, as well as advantages, of explaining the past through the lens of social science.

Discrimination, crime, marriage, fertility, education, or religion are all examples of key parts of our societies. The behavior of people and the design of institutions in these social contexts have major consequences for society (including policy and the economy as a whole). Economists claim that the economic approach is useful in explaining human behavior and social interactions in such settings and hence helps to better understand the functioning of societies. This in turn helps to design policies helping to achieve societal goals. This course analyzes different social phenomena through the lens of economists. It trains students to understand and analyze a wide range of social phenomena from an economic point of view and to investigate and interpret these issues empirically. In particular, students are given a thorough understanding of how social phenomena can be analyzed from an economic perspective and they get an introduction to econometric tools with which empirical claims about causality can be established. PREREQUISITES: Basic understanding of economic theory and quantitative methods, an advanced level of English.