Economics

This course provides an introduction of the contemporary economic development of China. The course is divided into topics covering the main aspects of China’s contemporary economic development. Throughout the learning process, we emphasize on learning the quantitative facts of China’s economic development, as well as the basic quantitative skills of analyzing questions related. The specific topics of learning include: the labor market, education, population, migration, agriculture, industrialization, political economy, culture, among others. The detailed delivery may be adjusted according to the learning process.

The course contains the learning materials, practices and case studies to develop the knowledge and skills of the students in the field of data science and its application in the real business/work world. The students learn how to apply analytical techniques and scientific principles to extract valuable information from business data for decision-making, strategic planning. This course covers practical contents of statistics, machine learning, information visualization, and data analysis techniques through python programming language and other tools.

This course covers classic macroeconomic issues such as inflation, unemployment, interest rates, growth, and technological progress. The course also provides the foundations needed to understand how the macroeconomy operates and presents various solutions to economic problems.

This course acquaints students with an improved understanding of the key disciplines of environmental economics pertaining to the study of the relationships between the economy and the environment. It equips students with the practical knowledge of environmental economic principles, environmental sciences and other related disciplines in managing the environment-economy relationships towards achieving a more resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable economy for the benefit of society. This takes the course to an extensive range of studies covering the connection between the economics of ecosystem services, ecosystem multifunctionality and environmental value which integrally linked to resource efficient economy and human welfare; the relationship between economic use of the natural system and environmental externality; market mechanism; environmental and resource conservation; cost-benefit analysis; valuation techniques and their limitations, among other subjects of interest.

This course introduces a set of analytic tools and conceptual frameworks through which to assess the origins and evolution of the institutions that constitute modern capitalism. It takes an interdisciplinary political economy approach that draws insights from economics, sociology, political science, history, geography, science and technology studies, and law. The course critically assesses the rise of what Karl Polanyi and Albert O. Hirschman have referred to as "market society," a powerful conceptual framework that views the development of modern capitalism not as an outcome of deterministic economic and technological forces, but rather as the result of contingent social and political processes. The material covers various theoretical perspectives that illustrate alternative conceptions of rationality, which in turn produce competing ways of seeing and making sense of the complexities of our social world. Ultimately, the course exposes a range of critical conceptual tools and frameworks through which to interrogate the current relationship between states and markets, and to consider the extent to which social actors can challenge its limits and imagine alternative possibilities.

This course is offered by the Faculty of Economics and is designed to help students improve their oral, presentational and academic writing skills in English. The topics to be considered in class will vary slightly depending on the students' interests and academic orientation. The actual work will consist of student presentations; reading and analyzing student essays and short academic papers, and class discussions. Specific advice will be given to each participant on how to approximate their writing and oral presentation to more natural patterns of speech.

This course is designed to deepen students' understanding of the history of economics after the Marginal Revolution. The purpose of these lectures is to encourage participants to look at the development of economics from the viewpoint of history and theory, in order to understand modern economics from a different perspective. This course covers the Marginal Revolution and the historical development of microeconomics. Students are required to have basic knowledge of micro- as well as macroeconomics. Some mathematical reformulations are introduced in the lectures, but they are elementary and can be understood easily. Evaluations will be based on midterm and final papers.

This course has been designed to provide students with an introduction to a range of important concepts, theories and principles that underpin the study of economics. Lectures take the form of lectures, case studies, and problem-solving exercises. The aims of the course are to: Provide students with an introduction to a number of essential economic concepts, principles and models, explain the functioning of markets, demand, supply, and government economic policies, and provide students with some analytical tools to tackle economic problems.

This course provides an overview of the development of the Japanese economy from the end of World War II to the present. Compared with other courses on Japanese economic history, this course emphasizes the application of basic economic theory to review the postwar history of the Japanese economy and then discusses current issues for the Japanese economy.

The course examines the successes and failures of British business and industry, with an emphasis on the post-World War II period. It assesses many of the hypotheses on why the UK economy grew more slowly than other OECD nations during this period. Explanations of relative economic decline are examined in the context of comparisons with other European nations and with the US, Japan and more recently China. The course is organized to combine major economic and political themes, such as de-industrialization, globalization, education and training, management organization and practices, labor relations, and Britain’s relationship with the EEC/EU, with case studies of industries as diverse as textiles, motors, banking, pharmaceuticals, and steel. By interacting themes and case studies, students get a sense of how national policies can affect business opportunities, and how governments can both aid and harm business. The impact of government policies such as nationalization/privatization, regional policy and competition are also examined in this context. The primary focus is on the post-World War II period, including current changes in performance, but the historical roots of Britain's recent performance are also considered.