Economics

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.

The course focuses on the relationship between the government and the market in terms of both equity and efficiency. The Nordic welfare state is analyzed both empirically and theoretically, with a special emphasis on the case of Sweden. The course gives the necessary economic tools to judge when government interventions are motivated, how these interventions can be done efficiently, and which problems can arise due to imperfect information and other deviations from a perfect market environment. The course includes a history of the development of the Swedish welfare state and considers arguments for and against the Nordic welfare state model. The course proceeds by covering a range of the many tools at the disposal of policymakers for jointly maximizing welfare and equity, keeping track of both the spending and the financing of the public sector. Topics covered include public goods, externalities, environmental policy, public insurance, income redistribution, efficient and equitable taxation, retirement policies, privatization and quasi-markets, fiscal federalism, and the constraints on fiscal policies imposed by globalization. Part of the course is also devoted to how collective decisions are made and the challenges involved in a collective decision process.