USC Catalogue 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]
Economics
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Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The economics curriculum is oriented toward a general, liberal education. The study of economics requires adequate preparation in mathematics and statistics. The department offers a BA degree in Economics, a BA degree in Political Economy, a BA degree in Social Sciences with an emphasis in Economics, a BS in Economics and Data Science, BS in Economics/Mathematics and minors in Economics and Behavioral Economics. The BA degrees require a total of 32 upper-division units for the major. The department offers a Master of Arts in Economics, a Master of Science in Applied Economics and Econometrics, a Master of Science in Mathematical Finance, a Master of Science in Spatial Economics and Data Analysis (with the Spatial Sciences Institute) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics.
Kaprielian Hall 300
(213) 740-8335
FAX: (213) 740-8543
Email: econ@dornsife.usc.edu
Chair: Romain Rancière, PhD
Faculty
Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law and Professor of Law, Political Science and Economics: Edward McCaffery, PhD (Law)
John E. Elliott Distinguished Chair in Economics: M. Hashem Pesaran, PhD
Robert R. and Katheryn A. Dockson Chair in Economics and International Relations and Professor of International Relations and Economics: Joshua Aizenman, PhD (Political Science and International Relations)
Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair of the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics: Dana Goldman, PhD (Public Policy)
Presidential Professor of Economics: Angus Deaton, PhD
Professors: Anindya Banerjee, PhD; Antonio Bento, PhD (Public Policy); Isabelle Brocas, PhD; Juan Carrillo, PhD; Thomas Chaney, PhD; Giorgio Coricelli, PhD; Robert Dekle, PhD; Cheng Hsiao, PhD; Ayse Imrohoroglu, PhD (Business); Selahattin Imrohoroglu, PhD (Business); Matthew Kahn, PhD; Michael J. P. Magill, PhD; Hyungsik Roger Moon, PhD; Jeffrey B. Nugent, PhD*; Vincenzo Quadrini, PhD (Business); Romain Rancière, PhD; Geert Ridder, PhD; Arthur Stone, PhD (Psychology); John Strauss, PhD; Guofu Tan, PhD; Donald E. Yett, PhD
Associate Professors: Timothy Armstrong, PhD; Caroline Betts, PhD; Michael E. DePrano, PhD; Yingying Fan, PhD (Data Science and Operations); Pablo Kurlat, PhD; Robert Metcalfe, PhD; Paulina Oliva, PhD
Assistant Professors: Marianne Andries, PhD; Vittorio Bassi, PhD; Fanny Camara, PhD; Michael Leung, PhD; Jonathan Libgober, PhD; Monica Morlacco, PhD; Afshin Nikzad, PhD; Jeffrey Weaver, PhD; David Zeke, PhD
Professor of the Practice: Lord John Eatwell, PhD
Professor (Teaching): Mark Moore, PhD
Professors (Research): Arie Kapteyn, PhD; Jinkook Lee, PhD; Soeren Mattke, PhD
Associate Professors (Research): Daniel Bennett, PhD; Titus Galama, PhD; Anya Samek, PhD
Assistant Professors of the Practice: Jaime Meza Cordero, PhD; Brijesh Pinto, PhD; Malgorzata Switek, PhD
Assistant Professors (Teaching): Ergin Bayrak, PhD; Yilmaz Kocer, PhD; Ladan Masoudie, PhD; Ratika Narag, PhD; Lodovico Pizzati, PhD; Manochehr Rashidian, PhD; Michael Sproul, PhD
Assistant Professors (Research): Marco Angrisani, PhD; Silvia Barcellos, PhD; Leandro Carvalho, PhD; Simone Schaner, PhD; Patrick Turley, PhD
Emeritus: Harrison Cheng, PhD; Richard H. Day, PhD; Richard A. Easterlin, PhD
*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.
Undergraduate Degrees
Advisement
Upon declaring a major or minor in Economics, students should consult with the department’s undergraduate adviser. Students can check their academic progress on the USCweb under OASIS.
Progressive Degree Program in Economics
The Economics department offers students who have demonstrated exceptional academic success the opportunity to earn both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a progressive degree program. This program allows students to earn both the Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts degrees in five years. Students may also pursue the Bachelor of Science in Economics/Mathematics and the Master of Science in Mathematical Finance. Further details about progressive degree programs can be found here .
Admission
Admission is available after the completion of 64 units of course work toward the undergraduate degree. Students must apply for admission to the progressive degree program after completing 64 units of applicable course work to their undergraduate program, but prior to the completion of 96 units of course work. The application for admission to the progressive degree program must be accompanied by a course proposal plan and two letters of recommendation from USC Economics faculty.
Awarding of Degrees
The bachelor’s and master’s degrees may be awarded separately upon completion of all degree requirements, but the master’s degree will not be awarded before the bachelor’s degree. Students who elect not to complete the master’s must complete 128 units to earn the bachelor’s degree.
Undergraduate Honors Program
The department offers an honors program. First and second semester seniors can enroll in ECON 495 Honors Thesis . Honors will be awarded upon completion of the thesis, an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and a major GPA of 3.5.
Department Policy Regarding Transfer Credits
Students who have taken courses equivalent to ECON 303 , ECON 305 or ECON 317 from an economics department at another four-year college or from a program deemed comparable by the director of undergraduate studies, can earn transfer credits provided they received a B (3.0) or better in the courses.
Graduate Degrees
The graduate program in Economics is designed to prepare students for careers in teaching, research, industry and government. The department emphasizes economic theory and econometrics; applied economic analysis, including microeconomics, macroeconomics, international and development economics, urban and regional economics; and political economy.
Admission Requirements
Prerequisites
The typical applicant for admission will normally have completed an undergraduate major in economics. Minimal prerequisites for admission to a master’s degree program include courses in intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, a year of calculus, and a semester of statistics. Applicants for the PhD program are normally expected to have completed more than the minimum, particularly in the areas of mathematics and statistics.
Procedure
The application deadline for master’s degrees is April 1. Completed doctoral applications are due by December 1.
Placement Examinations
Students whose native language is other than English may be required to take an English placement examination. Course work in English may be required.
Degree Requirements
These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and The Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.
Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirements
There is no foreign language requirement. However, competence in the use of one computer programming language is required for all graduate degrees offered through the Department of Economics.
Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy
Application deadline: December 1
The Department of Economics and the Department of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (USC School of Pharmacy) jointly offer a program of study leading to the PhD degree and to the MA degree in the process of work toward the PhD degree.
Required courses include both core requirements and area requirements. Core requirements include courses in economic theory, econometrics and research methods. Area requirements include courses in health economics, pharmaceutical economics, welfare theory and applied econometrics.
For a detailed description of this program, see the USC School of Pharmacy section of this catalogue.
Bachelor’s Degree
Combined Major
Minor
Master’s Degree
Doctoral Degree
Economics
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ECON 101 Free People, Free Thought and Free Markets Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
(Enroll in PHIL 101 )
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ECON 203g Principles of Microeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Behavior of firms and consumers, functions of the price system, competition and monopoly, labor markets, poverty, government regulation, international trade, and the environment.
Satisfies New General Education in Category F: Quantitative Reasoning
Instruction Mode: Lecture, Discussion
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 205g Principles of Macroeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Unemployment, inflation and output determination and links. Effects of government taxation and spending on growth, investment, saving, consumption, and trade.
Satisfies New General Education in Category F: Quantitative Reasoning
Instruction Mode: Lecture, Discussion
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 238xg Political Economy and Social Issues Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Contending politico-economic perspectives in modern Western thought: conservatism, liberalism, radicalism, and their relevance for contemporary policy issues including government and markets, class, race, gender, poverty and inequality.
Satisfies Old General Education in Category VI: Social Issues
Instruction Mode: Lecture, Discussion
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 303 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Decision-making by business firms, consumer preferences and behavior, uncertainty, competition, monopoly, labor and resource markets, efficient resource allocation, externalities, and government policy.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 ; MATH 118gx or MATH 125 ;
Corequisite: ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 304 Mathematical Microeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Explores the theoretical framework of how economic agents make choices and what the implications of these choices are; presentation and application of analytical tools.
Prerequisite: ECON 203g and (MATH 118gx or MATH 125g )
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 305 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
The determinants of aggregate income, employment, and inflation; economic fluctuations; fiscal and monetary policy; financial markets; the national debt.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 and ECON 205 ; MATH 118gx or MATH 125 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 317 Introduction to Statistics for Economists Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Introduction to statistical methods appropriate for analyzing economic data: probability theory, random variables and probability distributions, sampling, estimation, statistical inference.
Prerequisite: MATH 118gx or MATH 125 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 318 Introduction to Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Application of statistical methods to economic data: estimating economic relationships using regression analysis, testing hypotheses involving economic behavior, forecasting economic variables.
Prerequisite: ECON 317
Duplicates Credit in former ECON 414
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 319 Advanced Introduction to Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Understanding, evaluating and interpreting econometric papers that use linear regression methods and an emphasis on matrix algebra, calculus and mathematical proofs.
Prerequisite: ECON 317 and MATH 125g and MATH 225
Duplicates Credit in ECON 318
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 322 Economic History and Modernization of the Middle East Units: 4
Terms Offered: Irregular
Economic history of the Middle East from the rise of Islam to the modern era. Roles of law, religion. Processes of institutional transformation, stagnation, modernization.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 330 The Political Economy of Institutions Units: 4
Social functions served by the rules, laws, regulations, and customs that constrain human activity. Processes whereby such institutions adapt, or fail to adapt, to changing circumstances.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 332 Contracts, Organizations and Institutions Units: 4
Contract law and economic organization, determinants of firm boundaries, transaction cost economics, agency theory, incomplete contracting, business strategy, bureaucracy, institutional environment, politics and property rights.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 339 Philosophy of Economics Units: 4
(Enroll in PHIL 339 )
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ECON 340 Economics of Less Developed Countries Units: 4
Causes of economic underdevelopment: historical, institutional, structural, ideological, technological, cultural. Patterns and theories of development. Role of government, international trade, and education in economic growth.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 342 Economic Development of the Middle East Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Contemporary economic problems of the Middle East: comparative and historical perspectives on issues of institutions, investment, oil, trade, migration, finance, inequality, labor and capital markets.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 ;
Recommended Preparation: ECON 205 and ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 343 Economic Development of East Asia Units: 4
Contemporary economic problems of East Asian countries: management, labor, technology, trade, investment. Determinants of their high growth rates in the late 20th century.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 344 Economic Development of Sub-Saharan Africa Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Contemporary economic problems of sub-Saharan African economies: policies and endowments. Focus on issues of poverty, agriculture, health, macroeconomy and political economy.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 346 Economics of Transition and Development: China Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
A focus on the Chinese economy, its reform and transition to a market economy, its relation with East Asian countries and integration into the world economy.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 348g Current Problems of the American Economy Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
A comprehensive investigation of problems stemming from changing composition of the work force, urban decline, new technologies, inequalities, ethnic relations, government deficits. Prospects for continued growth.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Satisfies Old General Education in Category VI: Social Issues
Instruction Mode: Lecture, Discussion
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 350 The World Economy Units: 4
Terms Offered: SpSm
International cooperation and conflict in the world economy. Global economic problems of growth and development, trade and finance, migration, economic stability, and the environment.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 351x Microeconomics for Business Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Development and business applications of: theory of the firm; theory of the consumer; intertemporal decisions; decisions under risk; market failures; industrial and enterprise structure. Not for major credit for: economics, economics/mathematics, social sciences (economics) majors.
Prerequisite: MATH 118 or MATH 125 or MATH 126 or MATH 226 ;
Corequisite: ECON 352x
Duplicates Credit in former ECON 251.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 352x Macroeconomics for Business Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Theoretical development and significance to business and markets of economic growth; inflation; unemployment; monetary and fiscal policy; business cycles; savings and investment; exchange rates.
Recommended Preparation: introductory economics course, high school math, and algebra.
Corequisite: ECON 351x
Duplicates Credit in former ECON 252x.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 357 Money, Credit, and Banking Units: 4
The money, bond, stock, and other financial markets; portfolio choice; determinants of asset prices and interest rates; inflation; interactions between financial markets and government policies.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 and ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 360 Public Finance Units: 4
Role of the government; income and corporate taxation; direct versus indirect taxation; optimal tax structure; public goods; public sector pricing; public debt and macroeconomic stability.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 and ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 361 Understanding Financial Crises Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Key facts and basic mechanisms concerning financial crises and related topics (bank runs, sovereign default decision, currency collapse).
Prerequisite: ECON 203g and ECON 205g
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 366 Urban Economics Units: 4
Urban trends and problems, including changing urban form and function, urban public finance, housing, renewal, poverty, race, transportation, and the environment.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 and ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 369 Economics of European Integration Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
The challenges of policy coordination among independent political entities, starting from the aftermath of German unification (and the ramifications it had in a fixed exchange rate system) to the recent national debt crisis that followed the great recession.
Prerequisite: ECON 203g and ECON 205g
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 390 Special Problems Units: 1, 2, 3, 4
Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 395 Economic Policy Issues Units: 4
Selected policy dilemmas, including welfare reform, urban renewal, government budget deficits, regulation and deregulation, environmental problems, immigration, and global development. Lectures by leading authorities and weekly discussion sessions.
Prerequisite: ECON 203 and ECON 205 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 401 Mathematical Methods in Economics Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Introduction to quantitative methods for analyzing economic equilibria; comparative statics and dynamics. Utility theory, consumer behavior, and profit maximization. Model formulation in micro and macroeconomics.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 404 Games and Economics Units: 4
Analysis of strategic economic interactions. Topics include bargaining, insurance, patents, voting, environmental depletion, strategic trade, learning, reputation, strikes, corporate takeovers, and the provision of public goods.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 405 Neuroeconomics Units: 4
Introduction to the methodology used in experimental neuroeconomics and discussion of neural correlates of decision-making.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 410 Economics of Health and Healthcare Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Detailed discussion of economic models, including models of health, addiction, demand for healthcare and demand for insurance.
Prerequisite: ECON 303
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 415 Behavioral Economics Units: 4
Examination of the traditional and behavioral theories of decision-making and the state of the art in the field.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 419 Advanced Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Analysis of binary dependent variable models, panel data analysis, program evaluations, IV analysis, basics of time series and forecasting.
Prerequisite: (ECON 303 and ECON 305 and ECON 317 and ECON 318 ) and (MATH 125g or MATH 126 or MATH 225 or MATH 226 )
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 420 Experimental Economics Units: 4
Examination of economic theories and patterns of behavior useful in building new theories.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 ;
Recommended Preparation: ECON 317 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 432 Economics of Happiness Units: 4
What is happiness? How does it vary by socio-economic status and over the life cycle? This course will develop insight into the nature and determinants of subjective well-being.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 ;
Recommended Preparation: ECON 305 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 433 Empirical Economics Research Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Analysis of economic variables; investigation of empirical economics to estimate or test for relationships using various forms of data.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 , ECON 305 , ECON 317 and ECON 318 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 434 Economic Analysis of Law Units: 4
Common law and property; rationing of justice, resource allocation between prevention and enforcement; division of decision making between public and private sectors.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 450 International Trade Units: 4
Determinants and economic consequences of international trade patterns; effects of trade restrictions and trading blocs; trade negotiations and arrangements.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 451 The Politics of International Trade Units: 4
(Enroll in IR 430 )
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ECON 452 International Finance Units: 4
Consequences of trade deficits; theories of capital and currency markets, exchange rate regimes, and international monetary coordination.
Prerequisite: ECON 305 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 457 Financial Markets Units: 4
General equilibrium analysis of economies with financial markets; decision making under uncertainty; methods of risk reduction; portfolio theory and valuation of securities; efficiency of security markets.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 460 Economic Applications of Machine Learning Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
A capstone course that introduces state-of-the-art estimation methods for high-dimensional data.
Prerequisite: ECON 318 and MATH 225 and CSCI 103L and DSCI 250
Recommended Preparation: MATH 226g
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 471 Economics of Labor Markets and Human Capital Units: 4
A human capital interpretation of labor demand and supply; wage determination, differentials, and discrimination; job turnover and occupational mobility; unions and collective bargaining.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 472 Economics of Medical Care Units: 4
Health as an investment in human capital; analysis of the demand for and supply of health services and manpower; health insurance; cost-effectiveness analysis; market structures and the pricing of medical services.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 474 Economic Consulting and Applied Managerial Economics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Economic consulting and managerial economic methods applied in real world problems. Economic methods to analyze issues of intellectual property, environmental damage, trademark infringement, brand value, and consumer demand.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 480 Economics of Industrial Organization Units: 4
Pricing and resource allocation in imperfectly competitive markets; monopoly regulation, collusion, cartels, mergers and antitrust; patents and development incentives; industry case studies.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 487 Resource and Environmental Economics Units: 4
Management and extraction of renewable and non-renewable natural resources; environmental externalities and regulation of air, water, and land pollution; market incentives versus direct regulation.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
Crosslisted as ENST-487 -
ECON 490x Directed Research Units: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Max Units: 12.0
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Supervised individual research.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 495 Honors Thesis Units: 4
Individual research supervised by a faculty adviser. Successful completion required for departmental honors degree.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 499 Special Topics Units: 2, 3, 4
Max Units: 8.0
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Selected topics in economic theory, history, or policy.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 500 Microeconomic Analysis and Policy Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Theories of the household and the firm; product and factor markets; perfect and imperfect competition; welfare criteria.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 501 Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Theories of aggregate economic activity; design and use of macroeconometric models; stabilization and control of inflation, unemployment, and growth.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 502 Mathematical Methods in Dynamic Economics Units: 4
Terms Offered: SpSm
Movement of economic systems over time; differential and difference equations; introduction to the optimal control of economic processes; dynamic programming and optimal strategies; selected applications.
Prerequisite: ECON 401 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 504 Game Theory with Economic and Financial Applications Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Students will cover large ground in applying game theory to economic and financial markets and interactions in a diverse set of examples like reputation, herding, bubbles and crashes, auctions, strategic information revelation and information accumulation in markets. We will witness the wide range of applications that is amenable to game theoretical analysis.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 and ECON 404 and MATH 544L and MATH 547
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 506 Field Experiments Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Learn to design, analyze and interpret field experiments and understand their practical significance to applied economics, business and policy.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 508 Neurofinance Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Investigate human behavior in Economics. Use neuroscience as a new lens on financial decision-making; focus on specific topics in behavioral and neuro-finance.
Recommended Preparation: Intermediate level microeconomic theory and basic calculus
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 513 Practice of Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Application of econometric tools using standard econometric software packages for microcomputers; empirical applications to selected economic problems of estimation and inference.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 514 Empirical Finance Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Foundational knowledge of empirical methods in finance on selected topics and econometric methods, including time-series, asset returns and pricing models.
Prerequisite: ECON 513
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 515 Time Series Analysis Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Understanding and implementing models commonly used in time series econometrics. Emphasis is placed on intuition and application. Assists students understanding how to use time series data to test hypotheses and serve as an introduction to the ideas and techniques of forecasting.
Corequisite: ECON 513
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 521 Open Economy Macroeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
The balance of payments, macroeconomic policy in an open economy, exchange rate determination, exchange rate systems, currency crises, international financial arrangements and monetary history.
Prerequisite: ECON 501
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 523 Economic History and Development Units: 4
Historical trends in developed and developing societies in various aspects of modernization such as human resources, capital, technology, resource allocation, income distribution, international relations.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 527 Theory of Value: Classical Origins and Neoclassical Critique Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Classical economic theory; its precursors, main contributors, extensions and critics; focus upon the writings and ideas of Smith, Say, Malthus, Ricardo, Mill and Marx.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 533 Capstone Research Seminar Units: 2
Terms Offered: FaSp
Provides Masters students with a centerpiece of their graduate experience whereby they are able to experience first-hand turning the theory of their studies into practice under the guidance of an experienced faculty member.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Credit/No Credit
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ECON 537 Contracts, Organizations and Institutions Units: 4
Information, property rights, bargaining, transaction costs, incentives, free-riding and contracting in organizations; the nature of cooperation; bureaucracies.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 538 Values and Social Analysis Units: 4
Factors that make values an essential feature of human society; how values develop, change, and are abandoned; role of values in economic development.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 541 Economic Development Units: 4
Development, underdevelopment and the problems thereof; agriculture, industry, trade, population, human capital, capital formation; structural, technological, environmental and institutional changes; political economy of the state.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 550 Applied Trade Policy Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Introduction and exploration of quantitative methods and data sources used for applied trade policy analysis.
Prerequisite: ECON 303
Corequisite: ECON 500
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 555 Topics in Asset Pricing Theory Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
How do investors evaluate risks? With what information? How do they form their beliefs? Via empirical evidence and theoretical works, this course addresses these questions.
Recommended Preparation: ECON 508 and ECON 514 and ECON 606
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 564 Introduction to Market Design Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Introduction to market design; combined use of economic theory, experiments and empirical analysis; analyze and engineer market rules and institutions.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 570 Big Data Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Introduction to the theory and practice of causal econometrics in modern settings of large-scale data. Major algorithms from machine learning focused on methodology and applications.
Corequisite: ECON 513
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 572 Economics and International Health Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Apply microeconomics to explore public health issues throughout the world, with an emphasis on developing countries.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 573 Applied Program Evaluation Units: 4.0
Terms Offered: FaSp
Become equipped with a toolkit of common econometric methods that can be used to assess the causal effect of a policy.
Prerequisite: ECON 513
Recommended Preparation: Familiarity with programming in R
Instruction Mode: Lecture, Lab
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 580 Antitrust Economics and Competition Policy Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Efficiency, market failure, government regulation, some basics for antitrust economics, competition policy analysis and collusion and agreements among competitors.
Prerequisite: ECON 500 or ECON 513 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 584 Economic Consulting and Applied Econometrics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Economic methods to analyze issues of intellectual property, environmental damage, trademark infringement, brand value and consumer demand, using an applied econometric approach.
Corequisite: ECON 513
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 587 Urban Economics Units: 4.0
Terms Offered: FaSp
The role of designing incentives to reduce negative urban externalities and the interplay between spatial Big Data and testing urban economics hypotheses.
Recommended Preparation: Statistics or Econometrics
Corequisite: ECON 500
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 590 Directed Research Units: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Research leading to the master’s degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Credit/No Credit
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ECON 593x Practicum in Teaching the Liberal Arts Units: 2
Terms Offered: Fa
Practical principles for the long-term development of effective teaching within college disciplines. Intended for teaching assistants in Dornsife College.
Registration Restriction: Open only to doctoral students in Economics.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Credit/No Credit
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ECON 594a Master’s Thesis Units: 2
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Credit on acceptance of thesis.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: In-progress to Credit/No Credit
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ECON 594b Master’s Thesis Units: 2
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Credit on acceptance of thesis.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: In-progress to Credit/No Credit
-
ECON 594z Master’s Thesis Units: 0
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Credit on acceptance of thesis.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: In-progress to Credit/No Credit
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ECON 595 Research Seminar in Spatial Economics and Data Sciences Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Original spatial analysis research; integrate economics, data creation, and spatial analytics.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 596 Internship for Curricular Practical Training Units: 1, 2, 3
Max Units: 03
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Part-time or full-time, practical work experience in the student’s field of study. The internship must be located at an off-campus facility. Students are individually supervised by faculty. May not be taken until the student has completed at least one semester of enrollment in the graduate program with a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
Registration Restriction: Open only to graduate students
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Credit/No Credit
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ECON 599 Special Topics Units: 2, 3, 4
Max Units: 8.0
Terms Offered: FaSpSm
Selected topics in economics as developed by the instructor.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 600 Economics of Choice Units: 4
Reviews the normative and positive theories of choice drawing upon recent theoretical and empirical work in cognitive and evolutionary psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics and economics.
Prerequisite: ECON 500 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 601 Microeconomic Theory I Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Optimization of the consumer and the firm; duality and imputed value; perfect and imperfect competition in product and factor markets.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 602 Macroeconomic Theory I Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Aggregate demand, supply and government policy; theories of economic growth and business cycles; static and dynamic implications of government policies.
Duplicates Credit in former ECON 505
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 603 Microeconomic Theory II Units: 4
Terms Offered: Sp
General equilibrium theory; existence, uniqueness, and stability; welfare economics; social choice; dynamic models and uncertainty; special topics.
Prerequisite: ECON 601 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 604 Game Theory Units: 4
Strategies and equilibrium concepts; dynamic and repeated games; incomplete information and learning in games.
Prerequisite: ECON 601 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 605 Macroeconomic Theory II Units: 4
Terms Offered: Sp
Macroeconomic theory based on the concepts of optimal growth and intertemporal equilibrium; overlapping generations models; recent developments in macroeconomic theory.
Prerequisite: ECON 601 and ECON 602 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 606 Behavioral Theories of Decision-Making Units: 4
Examination of behavioral theories used to describe and predict choices made in both an individual decision-making setting and strategic environments.
Prerequisite: ECON 601 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 607 Topics in Dynamic Optimization Units: 4
Theory and numerical methods for dynamic optimization and control; selected applications in economic analysis and econometrics.
Prerequisite: ECON 502 and knowledge of FORTRAN.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 608 Advanced Neuroeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Advanced methodology of neuroeconomics including neural activity, memory, value and reward systems, emotions and risk.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 609 Econometric Methods Units: 4
Terms Offered: FaSp
Review of statistical methods of estimation and inference, linear regression with multicollinearity and serial correlation; multivariate regression and simultaneous equations.
Prerequisite: ECON 611 .
Duplicates Credit in former ECON 511.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 610 Quantitative Analysis in Macroeconomics Units: 4
Terms Offered: Sp
Dynamic economics, applied general equilibrium models, computational and calibration tools, discrete-state dynamic programming, log-linearization of Euler equations.
Prerequisite: ECON 602 , ECON 605 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 611 Probability and Statistics for Economists Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Introduction to probability theory and statistical inference to prepare students for graduate courses in econometrics and economic theory; probability, random variables, distributions, estimation, testing, asymptotics.
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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ECON 612 Econometric Theory Units: 4
Inference and prediction, generalized and restricted least squares, specification analysis, multivariate and seemingly unrelated regressions, simultaneous equations techniques, dynamic models, instrumental variable estimation.
Prerequisite: ECON 609 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
-
ECON 613 Economic and Financial Time Series I Units: 4
Terms Offered: Fa
Simultaneous equation models, dynamic structural econometric models, vector autoregressions, causality, forecasting, univariate and multivariate nonstationary time series, tests for unit roots, cointegration, autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models, time series models with changes in regime.
Prerequisite: ECON 609 .
Instruction Mode: Lecture
Grading Option: Letter
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