Economics

This course is designed for learners who wish to acquire skills and knowledge in managing new technology-based enterprises and engaging in innovation and entrepreneurship. It is suitable for startups as well as new business units within larger organizations. The course focuses on core modules including technology entrepreneurship, business growth management, new product development, and strategic management of R&D organizations, emphasizing organizational and strategic challenges under opportunities and uncertainties in high-tech enterprises. Topics cover creative thinking, technology innovation strategy, organizational change and management innovation, holistic product development, sources of innovation and opportunity evaluation, business growth and capital management, as well as the design and management of innovative and entrepreneurial organizations. Additionally, the course incorporates applications of artificial intelligence in business operations and entrepreneurial practice, with teaching conducted through case studies, instructor-led lectures, and team project presentations.

This course examines new and comprehensive methods for the analysis and formation of business strategy. The course analyzes strategies for developing competitive advantages, including product differentiation, cost advantages and product life cycles; implementing incentives, control, firm boundaries, and internal firm decision-making mechanisms; implementing pricing, auction and signalling practices; assessing industry attractiveness and the regulatory/trade practices environment; and managing industry cooperation and conflict.

Students study the theoretical and practical aspects of financial markets, and learn how modern financial markets work. Engaging with leading faculty and your peers, students are introduced to modern investment portfolio management strategies covering topics such as diversification, asset allocation, portfolio optimization, the relationship between risk and return, factor models and equity valuation. Students also tackle some of the fundamental issues that arise in investment management, such as market efficiency, behavioral biases of investors, and market liquidity. 

This is an introductory course that lays the foundation for understanding the economic behavior of individual consumers, firms, and markets. This course delves into the fundamental theories and concepts of microeconomics and illuminates how these concepts apply to real-world situations. Students will explore supply and demand, elasticity, utility, production, cost, market structures (including perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly), factor markets, and market failure. This course requires no prior knowledge of economics and is suitable for students of all disciplines interested in understanding how microeconomic principles affect everyday life.

Students are expected to actively participate in various classroom experiments throughout the semester. 

 

The Course will include a review on Chinese growing technology sector and its ever-changing competitive internet Universe, and the way Chinese entrepreneurs are reshaping traditional industries (i.e.green industries, auto industry, last mile delivery, micro-mobility, retail, finance, entertainment, artificial intelligence). This course will review Chinese modernization policies, including but not limited to China 2025, China Internet, the recently issued Five-year plan, and their implication in the development of China and impact on China’s business environment and society. Review on Artificial Intelligence, its impact in Chinese society, economy and culture will also be covered. Finally, Chinese One Belt One Road initiative and Chinese pivotal role in the international arena. Overall this course provides students with useful insights for students to understand China not only a supplier of goods and commodities, but also, as a business innovative economy with great potential for internationalization.

This course provides: (i) a working knowledge of the most important aspects of the linear regression model; and (ii) basic tools needed to understand and critically interpret empirical research conducted by others as well as to plan and conduct empirical analyses using economic data. The key concepts of the underlying statistical theory are covered, but major emphasis is placed on application of the theory from a practical standpoint. The course also provides an introduction on how to conduct empirical analysis of economic data using Stata, a statistical software package. Prerequisites: Sound knowledge of mathematics and statistics.

This course presents international trade theory and trade policy practices. Relevant international trade theories are discussed together with the hypothesized consequences and empirical support. The course examines both tariff and non-tariff trade policy measures. In the latter, both traditional (e.g. quota, local content requirements) and new forms (sanitary and phyto-sanitary, technical requirement) of non-tariff measures are covered. The course also discusses free trade agreements and international production sharing, and their impacts.

This course is an introduction to labor economics. The course objective is to understand how labor markets operate and how they are affected by institutions and labor market policies. Both empirical evidence and standard theory are covered. The course highlights the effects on efficiency and the redistributive properties of institutions operating in imperfect labor markets, subject to market failures. This provides three reasons for the existence of institutions: i) remedying market failures, ii) achieving some redistribution, and iii) remedying potential negative side effects of other institutions. The course consists of 14 key lectures. The first lecture set up the stage by introducing workers’ labor supply, firms' labor demand, the labor market equilibrium and the institutional wedges. Lecture 2 through 14 deal with specific institutions and have the same setup: a description of the institution, some cross-country comparisons, theory in perfect and imperfect labor markets, empirical evidence on the effects of this institution, interactions with other institutions, and policy issues. The four lecture topics are: overview; minimum wages; unions and collective bargaining; antidiscrimination legislation; regulation of working hours; early retirement plans; family policies; education and training; migration policies; employment protection legislation; regulations on self-employment; unemployment benefits and active labor market policies; health related labor policies; and payroll taxes.

This course examines international financial economics using a mixture of modern economic theory and empirical analysis. The inter-temporal model of the current account is examined to enable the analysis of the effects of economic policies on international trade and global financial markets. Theory and evidence for international asset positions will also be examined. Models of exchange rate and interest rate determination will be introduced and their empirical performance will be assessed. Topics covered will include sovereign debt, currency crises and the home bias portfolio puzzle.