Introductory technical treatment of standard Keynesian, classical and new classical macroeconomic models. Expectations formation and microeconomic foundations of consumption, investment, money demand, and labor market behavior.

Further issues regarding macroeconomic topics. First half emphasis will be placed on dynamic macroeconomic theory as pertaining to monetary issues, policy ineffectiveness and effectiveness. The second half of the course will focus on theories of investment and growth.

A detailed treatment of the theory of the consumer and of the firm, particularly emphasizing the duality approach. Topics include the household production model, imperfect competition, monopolistic and oligopolistic markets.

Analysis of markets and market equilibria; the Arrow-Debreu model of general equilibrium, the two-sector model, welfare theorems, externalities, public goods, markets with incomplete and asymmetric information.

Institutions and technology shaping pre-capitalist economies: Archaic, Greek and Roman, Feudal, and Mercantile. Rise of the market system, national economies, and capitalism. The nature of industrial society. Imperialism.

Institutions and technology shaping pre-capitalist economies: Archaic, Greek and Roman, Feudal, and Mercantile. Rise of the market system, national economies, and capitalism. The nature of industrial society. Imperialism.

Explore both the causes and consequences in development economics from a historical and scientific approach. Presents theoretical models and applied work that test alternative hypotheses. Explore models of economic growth and institutions, with emphasis on property rights and political regimes as causal factors affecting development. Discuss empirical methods widely used in the field and important related topics including poverty, inequality, education and health.

Survey of a variety of models explaining how market failures may lead to poverty and underdevelopment, with an emphasis on the empirical evaluation of constraints faced by individuals in developing countries and the programs that attempt to alleviate those constraints. Topics include: agricultural and land markets, labor markets, human capital in developing countries, credit markets, and consumption smoothing and risk coping.

Specification, estimation, hypothesis testing and prediction in the classical and generalized linear regression model. Topics include: ordinary least squares, generalized least squares, instrumental variableestimation, quantile regression, finite and large sample analysis and general testing principles including misspecification tests. The course will also provide instructions on the use of a major statistical packagesuch as Stata or TSP.

A continuation of ECON623. Topics include: Nonlinear models and nonlinear estimation methods (generalized method of moments and maximum likelihood estimation), panel data models, univariate dynamic models, multivariate dynamic models including simultaneous equation models, and non-parametric/semiparametric estimation methods. The course will also provide instructions on the use of a major statistical package such as Stata or TSP.

An examination of the specification, computation, estimation and interpretation of structural models that are widely used in applied microeconomics (empirical and theoretical Industrial Organization, public and urban economics, environmental economics, development, political economy (e.g., voting), health and education economics, trade) and Marketing. The focus will be on how to use these models in practice, and students will solve and estimate models in weekly problem sets, with solutions/code being discussed in class.

To provide students with the opportunity to use empirical techniques that are particularly valuable in the analysis of microeconomic data. Topics include panel data, nonlinear optimization, limited dependent variables, truncated, censored, selected samples, the analysis of natural experiments, and quantile regressions. This course will emphasize hands-on practical experience.

Essential computational methods used in macroeconomics. There will be particular focus on approximating the solution to dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models. Methods for representative-agent and heterogeneous-agent models will be extensively studied. Econometric methods such as Generalized Method of Moments, Maximum Likelihood, Vector Autoregressions wil also be covered.
Beginning on Fri, October 23rd, students will need to attend an evening meeting from 5:30p-830p

An introduction to the methodology of laboratory and field experiments. The course concentrates on a series of experiments to show how experiments build on one another, allowing researchers with different theoretical dispositions to narrow the range of potential disagreement.

An exploration of how people make decisions, questioning the concept of "perfect rationality" in the standard economic theory, providing improved models in line with the observed biases of decision makers. Focusing on decision making under risk and ambiguity, endowment effect, status quo bias, loss aversion, intertemporal choice, and selfish and pro-social preferences.

Decision making is a process in which we select a course of action among available options. It begins when we need to do something but we do not know what. First, we embark on a journey into a land of rationality to study the normative approach. Since our ability to think and knowledge are limited and time is pressing, it is not surprising that some behavioral biases will observed in decision making processes. Of course, this will require adjusting our normative theories to capture these biases. This will be the second purpose of this course.

The foundations of public economics, taxation, inequality, and behavioral public economics are reviewed. Major topics include welfare economics, tax incidence, behavioral responses to tax incentives and the efficiency cost of taxation, optimal taxation, income and wealth inequality, optimal tax systems and tax evasion, capital taxation and business income taxes, and taxation and behavioral economics. The course material is aimed to give students an understanding of both the foundations and methods of modern public economics. This is the first course in the two-part Ph.D.

Classical theories of industry organization are analyzed. Topics include monopoly price discrimination, product differentiation and bundling as well as traditional oligopoly models of Cournot and Bertrand are examined. Dynamic models of oligopoly including entry deterrence and collusion are discussed in addition to games of research and development. Long-run industry structures and dynamics are also analyzed. Also investigates implications of these models for antitrust policy.

Review recent empirical literature in industrial organization. Covers price discrimination, cartel and collusion, entry and market structure, information and competition, technological change and adoption, auction, and firm organization.

Recent developments in macroeconomics with an emphasis on topics and techniques useful for conducting research in macroeconomics. Topics include advanced treatment of fiscal and monetary policy issues; the role of imperfect competition; real, sectoral and nominal business cycle models.

Selected issues in monetary economics with an equal emphasis of learning the models and understanding important issues: a survey of models (cash-in-advance, money-in-the-utility-function, transaction cost, search-based models), empirical issues in monetary economics, business cycles and money, monetary policy, welfare cost of inflation, alternative media of exchange.

Formal treatment of game theory and its microeconomic applications are presented, emphasizing dynamics and information. Equilibrium concepts for static and dynamic games, and games with complete and incomplete information are studied. Topics also discussed: mechanism design, efficiency, reputations, signaling, and screening.

This is the second half of a two-semester sequence in Advanced Microeconomics, intended for second-year Ph.D. students. The course material varies from year-to-year, but currently it focuses on auction theory, matching theory, and the relationship between matching and auction theory. Other topics that are treated in some years include: sequential bargaining under incomplete information; and equilibrium refinements.

Advanced Topics in Applied and Theoretical Microeconomics

Advanced Topics in Applied and Theoretical Macroeconomics

Oriented towards macro-econometric methods. Topics covered will be selected from the following: Further discussion of topics covered in ECON624, nonlinear time series models, exogeneity and causality, non-stationary time series models (unit roots, co-integration, error correction models, vector autoregressive models), econometric models of volatility (ARCH and GARCH models, and Stochastic volatility models), rational expectations models, non-stationary panel data models, tests for structural change, Bayesian econometrics and methods for Bayesian computation.

Oriented towards micro-econometric methods.

Exchange rate determination; exchange rate regimes; international monetary reform; policy conflict and cooperation; the LDC debt problem; pricing of international assets; balance of payments crises.

Comparative advantage, Heckscher-Ohlin theory, specific-factors model, empirical verification, economies of scale, imperfect competition, commercial policy, factor mobility.

Puzzles in international finance; portfolio balance, current account dynamics, exchange rate behavior; capital market imperfections; balance of payments crises.

This is an advanced course in the intersection of international finance, trade, and macroeconomics. The goal is to integrate topics from the three fields and to understand the links between individual/micro and aggregate/macro outcomes in real and financial markets. Topics include firm sale and pricing behavior, consumer choice and aggregate responses---trade elasticities, real exchange rate fluctuations, risk sharing, portfolio choice, asset pricing anomalies, and information frictions.

Designed primarily for students planning to write dissertations on a topic related to international trade. Its focus is on recent research in this field including tests of trade theories; the effects of trade on growth and knowledge diffusion; the political economy of trade policy and the theory and practice of trade agreements.

After a brief overview of the micro-foundations of capital market imperfections, topics include limited commitment, the financial accelerator, liquidity, bubbles, crises, the role of credit in monetary economics as well as international capital flows.

Theoretical and empirical issues in taxation and redistribution, with a particular emphasis on the U.S. experience. Major topics covered include the theory of optimal income taxation and transfer program design; U.S. anti-poverty and income support programs; taxes and labor supply among both low- and high-income individuals; taxable income elasticities; tax incidence and efficiency; and individual savings behavior, in particular as it relates to taxation and public policy.

An introduction to empirical political economy. Determinants of individual political behavior and the impact of political rules on economic outcomes will both be analyzed. Modern applied econometric techniques will also be covered.

Modern analytical and quantitative labor economics. Labor supply decisions of individuals and households; human capital model and distribution of income. Demand for labor; marginal productivity theory, imperfect information and screening. Interaction of labor demand and supply; unemployment; relative and absolute wages; macroeconomic aspects of the labor market.

Covers the central ideas in population economics. These include theory and test of theories of mortality, fertility and immigration.

The theory and practice of valuing environmental benefits, including the health, recreation and aesthetic benefits associated with controlling air and water pollution, and the damages associated with climate change. Estimation of the benefits of energy efficiency improvements-including the benefits of fuel economy standards.

The use of exhaustible and renewable natural resources from normative and positive points of view. Analysis of dynamic resource problems emphasizing energy, mineral, groundwater, forestry, and fishery resources; optimal, equilibrium, and intergenerational models of resource allocation.
Also offered as AREC785. Credit will be granted for one of the following: AREC785 or ECON785.

Pre-Candidacy Research

Doctoral Dissertation Research