Economics

This course focuses on the economic issues of agriculture in developing countries. It looks at the structure and organization of agriculture in developing countries and the attendant problems for mechanization, the agricultural production function, pricing of agricultural inputs and outputs. The course also place special emphasis on technology adoption in agriculture.

This course examines the taxing and spending decisions of governments. After an introduction to welfare economics and the role of government in the economy, the course focuses on the revenue side of the budget: tax incidence, efficient and equitable taxation, the Australian system of revenue raising, issues of tax reform, and the theory and practice of public utility pricing. It then focuses on the expenditure side of the government budget: public goods, externalities, and programs aimed at redistribution. It also introduces techniques of policy evaluation.

This course introduces urban economics and covers fundamental principles developed in economics to understand the functioning/workings of an urban economy and the various aspects of urban life. The course begins with the definition of a city, why cities form by introducing the economics of agglomeration, and how cities interact to form the urban system of the entire economy. These factors affect all urban phenomena. The course then analyzes the internal spatial structure of a city by developing a theory of commuting, housing demand and housing production. It then analyzes transportation and land/housing issues in more detail. Finally, the course discusses the optimality of local public good provision and connects local public finance and housing markets with land taxation.  

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on advanced and comprehensive knowledge of the main, up-to-date econometric methods for the analysis of economic and financial time series data. In terms of inference techniques, emphasis is given to up-to-date bootstrap methods. The course discusses how to analyze the application of advanced econometric models to economic time series data, and how to implement and make use of proper (asymptotic and bootstrap) inference methods in dynamic environments. The course is divided into two parts: part I introduces stylized facts of financial time series and conditional volatility models including estimation, inference, and applications; and part II discusses asymptotic and Bootstrap inference in time series.

This course examines various contemporary aspects of corporate governance, including issues relating to responsibility, accountability, sustainability, oversight, risk, ethics, and incentives. The course is multi-disciplinary, integrating concepts from the disciplines of accounting, finance, law, economics, and business ethics. A comprehensive overview of a myriad of issues, both theoretical and practical, arising out of the current international debate on creating effective corporate governance is provided. Next to acquiring a comprehensive overview of corporate governance, key learning objectives are to: (1) Develop a deep understanding of the key elements of corporate governance, (2) Acquire general knowledge of institutional differences in corporate governance as well as a general appreciation of many different codes of best practice worldwide; (3) Learn how to apply knowledge and understanding of corporate governance to real-world problems, and provide well-informed advice and judgments based on relevant academic research; and (4) Learn how to effectively communicate knowledge, advice and judgments on various corporate governance issues.

This course examines the determinants of labor supply, demand and the structure of earnings and the economic effects of government policies, such as minimum wage laws, unemployment insurance, welfare and training programs and subsidies to higher education. 

This course examines the long-term development of the world economy from a comparative perspective, focusing on the interplay between economic growth and institutional, social, and technological change.

Students study the role and content of management accounting systems and learn computational and evaluative techniques for information analysis, organizational planning, and problem solving. Students learn how management accounting systems help organizations identify, measure, and communicate information for valuation purposes and enable managers and employees in an organization to make informed judgements and decisions.

Businesses have been revolutionized with the introduction of new information technologies (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI). This course provides an understanding of the key economic concepts to operate and be a successful IT-enabled and/or AI-driven business and to impart an appreciation of the economic impacts of IT and AI at the firm, market, and societal levels. The course discusses competitive market analysis, IT-related economic issues of pricing and bundling, information asymmetry and uncertainty, as well as AI-related topics of automated decision, and economic impacts of AI technologies.

This course focuses on the performance of European firms according to essential external users such as investors and “analysts." It deals with a specific angle of analysis - the financial aspects of the performance - viewed from users like shareholders, bankers, creditors, customer unions, and tax authorities. Comparability of financial information through the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a key issue in an international environment. Taking a user perspective throughout, whether discussing reporting principles or in the practice of financial analysis, this course is divided in two parts: identifying the financial information provided in the IFRS system, and examining the analysts’ views on this information? The course covers international and comparative accounting, performance indicators, methods for measuring the success of a firm, and evaluation methods for company financing policy. It also discusses comparative differences in international practices, as doing business with European companies requires the ability to analyze the information they provide. Other topics covered include how investors and analysts view the information that companies provide, what they see as its strengths and weaknesses, what information really matters to them and what they all but disregard, and finally, how they estimate the company’s performance through the information provided in IFRS.