Economics

This course explores the contributions made by economic theory to several important economic problems. While the list of topics is generally quite flexible, the underlying theme is the use of game theoretic modelling and the use of mathematical modelling and equilibrium concepts developed in economic theory. There are no formal prerequisites, but the course is quite technical and students with weak quantitative background should be willing to catch up with constrained optimization (e.g., Lagrange & Kuhn-Tucker methods) and intermediate microeconomics (e.g., competitive markets vs monopolies).

This course examines the global politics of trade, development, and the environment against the background of continued economic globalization and the emergence of new forms of global governance. 

This course gives students a thorough introduction to the field of behavioral organizational economics. Students discuss seminal as well as current research papers in the field, featuring empirical studies as well as lab and field experiments. Students study employment relationships between workers and organizations and get to know key factors that shape them in a positive way.  They focus on the two concepts of motivation and selection. When it comes to the question of how to motivate workers on their jobs, students discuss desired as well as unexpected effects incentives can have and examine the interplay between incentives, on the one hand, and cultural and psychological factors on the other. When it comes to selection and hiring, students tackle the question of how to best match candidates to jobs. Students also find out more about how to detect discrimination in the hiring process – and discuss measures that can help to mitigate or even eliminate it.

This course enables students to understand how money and finance, and processes of global political economy more broadly, enable, shape, and condition the way development, environmental governance, and conservation are practiced in sub-Saharan Africa. The course draws on economic geography, but also social, financial, and cultural geography, anthropology, development studies, and work on society and environment relations. Although the course will have a major reference to sub-Saharan Africa - including Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and South Africa - it also includes examples of financialization, conservation, and eco-system services from the UK, the Caribbean, and Asia. 

This course presents an advanced treatment of econometric principles for cross-sectional, panel and time-series data sets. While concentrating on linear models, some non-linear cases are also discussed, notably limited dependent variable models and generalized methods of moments. The course focuses on modern econometric techniques, addressing both technical derivations and practical applications. Applications in the areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and finance are considered.

This course must be taken simultaneously with CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE ECONOMY A. The course addresses important economic problems that emerged in Japan within the last few decades and aims to deepen understanding of contemporary Japanese economy and its relations to the world economy. It covers the following topics: the Bubble Economy in the 1980s, Recovery in the 2000s, Aging society, Social security, etc.

This course explores how labor economics informs the discussion of many social issues such as the causes of unemployment; how technological change is shifting the distribution of jobs and wages; the impact of immigration on wages and employment; the impact of social security on the incentive to work; and the causes of gender and racial wage and employment gaps.

This course explores the intricate relationship between climate dynamics, economic systems, and sustainable policies that can be put in place (Global Perspectives, 2030 Agenda, Climate Agreements, Paris Agreement, EU Green Deal) to innovation and behavioral interventions. It provides an understanding of the climate and sustainability debate, and the economic concepts that form the basis for analyzing climate-related issues and actionable policies. It also develops the ability to analyze, interpret, and possibly contribute to the ongoing discourse on climate change.

This course provides an understanding of the key determinants of economic development, inequality, and trade. It combines economic theories with empirical studies. It is divided into two halves. In the first half, students study how the economic development of different regions is interconnected through trade. Students begin by examining the patterns of international trade. They then define and use the principle of comparative advantage. They formalize the reasons why countries trade using classical theories and general equilibrium models of trade. These models highlight that trade can generate both gains and inequalities. In the second half, students begin by defining economic development and measuring the gap between poor and rich countries. They define and make use of concepts like poverty, inequality, and economic growth. They then review the classic theories of economic growth, which attempt to explain why some countries are rich and others are poor and contrast those with the contemporary models of development. Students also consider the role of political institutions and human capital in generating economic development.

This course provides an introduction to some of the main questions in development economics. Broadly speaking, it tries to answer two questions: why are some countries (and within countries, some people) poor and what can be done about it? The course presents empirical evidence as well as theoretical frameworks. It adopts a micro and a macro perspective and discusses the role of different actors, from households to firms to governments. The course covers a wide range of issues, from communicable diseases to gender inequality to environmental degradation.