Economics

Economics provides us with a useful set of tools for analyzing the world and aiding decision-making by businesses and governments. This course gives students an overview of many of these tools and of the insights that can be obtained with them, concentrating on those most relevant to businesses. This means that most of the lectures are on microeconomic topics, looking at the actions of firms and of individuals, but the course concludes with some coverage of macroeconomic problems and policies, looking at the economy as a whole. Upon completion of this course, students can intelligently discuss and analyze current events in business and economics. 

This course first gives a general overview of the financial system, and makes some comparisons between China and US. The main focus is on the basic economic principles behind the operation of the financial system and financial markets, and how the financial system is related to the real economy. The course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the structure and function of major financial markets. The second part presents the central bank and its monetary policy. The third part introduces how banks provide liquidity and other financial institutions. Lastly, I will also choose actual events that occurred during the course to conduct analysis and draw conclusions, aiming to help students develop practical, analytical and thinking abilities.

This course examines various topics that play a role in financial markets and institutions. Topics include: money and capital markets at the micro level; financial assets; financial assets, risks, and risk-bearing; theory of equilibrium pricing of financial assets; interest rate determination and structure; asymmetric information in financial markets; financial institutions; risk management of financial institutions; behavior and regulation of financial institutions; and other contemporary issues and recent developments in financial systems.

The aim of the course is twofold. First, the course provides a toolkit to identify, model, and reason through strategic interactions (such as business strategies, negotiations, etc.) and discusses how to apply this toolkit when designing strategic environments (such as auctions, competitions, teamwork, etc.). Second, and in the interdisciplinary spirit of the program, the course illustrates the ability of mathematics in modeling, analyzing, and understanding real-world social as well as business interactions. Course topics include: what is Game Theory, static and multistage games of complete and incomplete information, signaling and repeated games, mechanism design, Bayesian and dominant-strategy incentive compatibility, efficient mechanisms, auctions, and applications of the theory. Prerequisites: Ability to complete rigorous mathematical proofs.

This course focuses on the important changes and challenges that digitalization implies for the functioning of the entire financial system and the financial function of the economy. Topics include: fin-tech; crowdfunding; digitalization of the payment system; bitcoin and blockchains; fin-tech, big data analytics, and new financial business models; digital security.

This course provides a study of advanced financial management. This course looks at market efficiency hypothesis, capital structure, dividend policy, and working capital management, which are based on fundamental financial theories including the present value model, capital budgeting, portfolio theory, CAPM and cost of capital. It also provides an introduction to corporate financial analysis, financial planning, and derivatives.

This is an introductory course in macroeconomics. Topics include wealth and money; how a nation's income is measured; growth of wealth and how some countries have successfully achieved prosperity, while other countries have failed in achieving economic growth; and theories related to the business cycle, including the main topic of macroeconomics since John Maynard Keynes. This course also discusses the problem of lack of jobs available in this economy and explores the various economic theories from opposing schools.

This course examines the economic problems of developing countries by utilizing economic theories and their applications. It covers both macroeconomic and microeconomic approaches to development economics; an overview of growth theories and their potential in explaining income differences across countries; various facets of human development, including poverty, nutrition, health, education, institutions, culture, and history.

This course examines the fundamental ideas and important methods in causal inference. Combining statistical theory, scientific principles of research design, and hands-on experience with real data, this course will provide students with a solid basis for being good consumers and practitioners of empirical research in economics and other quantitative social sciences. The course will draw on applications from development, labor, and business economics with particular attention to policy evaluation.