Optional Modules
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S101 : Public Economics
This course covers the foundations for optimal taxation based largely on the seminal work of Ramsey (1927) and Mirrlees (1971). The goal of the course is to familiarize students with basic empirical methods and theoretical models in applied microeconomics, with a focus on connecting theory to data to inform economic policy. Topics include efficiency costs and incidence of taxation, inequality, optimal income and commodity taxation.
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S130 : Economics of Ageing
This course covers areas of active empirical research on the economics of aging. We will cover OLG, adverse selection, and life cycle savings and labor supply models as well as empirical evidence on these models. Specific topics include the role of savings incentives on individual and national savings, the annuities market, and the effects of public pensions and disability insurance programs on labor supply and savings.
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S140 : Behavioural Economics
This course offers an introduction to the behavioural approach to economics. Among the topic covered are behavioural game theory, intertemporal decision making, neuroeconomics, cognitive biases, decision-making heuristics and addiction. The course includes both theoretical and empirical material, but a recurring theme is the importance of experimental findings both in the laboratory and in the field.
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S150 : Economics of Networks
The course introduces students to the economics of networks. This area of research has emerged in the last two decades and it has introduced a set of tools for economists to incorporate network structure in the analysis of individual behaviour and economic outcomes. Topics covered include the formation of networks, the provision of local public goods, coordination, learning, trading, and financial networks. A central focus of the course is the interplay between theory and experiments.
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S170 : Industrial Organisation
This course provides a rigorous treatment of the main concepts in industrial organisation. The course covers both theory and applications.
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S190 : International Trade
This course covers the main theoretical models of international trade, impacts of trade policy, and how firms respond to changes in policy and technology. There is a heavy emphasis on examining the predictions of theoretical models through empirical analysis. We will be reviewing the methodologies in a variety of papers, many of which make use of panel data.
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S301 : Applied Econometrics
The aim of this module is to enable students to follow modern applied econometric papers and critically interpret empirical output, including an understanding of the limitations imposed by the econometric techniques and the data available. This course has two components (i) empirical strategies for obtaining causal estimates, including randomized experiments, difference-in-difference, regression discontinuity, selection correction and instrumental variables and (ii) panel data estimation including fixed and random effects and dynamic panel data models. The focus is on empirical rather than purely theoretical issues. The emphasis throughout will be on intuitive treatment of the issues rather than detailed technical derivations. This will include discussion of empirical papers that address policy issues via data analysis.
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S500 : Development Economics
This course is on development economics and deals with the economic problems of poor countries. It considers some of the main theoretical and analytical issues in development economics as well as the historical development process of now-developed countries. The topics covered are growth, development, poverty, inequality, education, technology, innovation, mutual insurance, finance, savings, weather, climate, health, pandemics, representative democracy, religion, social capital and conflict.
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F500 : Empirical Finance
This course is an introduction to some major topics in empirical finance. It aims to endow the student with an understanding of the current issues, methods, and conclusions of empirical research on financial markets. The focus is primarily on equity markets. There will be an emphasis on empirical results and their interpretation. Econometrics required background.
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F520 : Behavioural Finance
The goal of the course is to better understand human attitudes towards uncertainty in general, and financial risk in particular. The method to get there is to go beyond a pure behaviouralist approach, point to the difficulty of deciphering the psychology behind behaviour, to eventually land squarely in the domain of neurobiology. The approach promises more comprehensive insights than from a purely behavioural study (which makes humans look like a bug-plagued organism), and it bypasses difficult issues of awareness and consciousness (what if people don’t know what they think or feel?). Among others, the results are: novel insights into the role of emotions; an appreciation that neurobiology provides foundations for machine learning (and how the newest in computational neuroscience may yet revolutionise machine learning); a deeper understanding as to whether and how “smart drugs” (popular among students and professionals) work.
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F530 : Venture Capital and the Economics of Innovation
The course explores the political and economic context from which professional venture capital has evolved and evaluates the distribution and correlates of investment returns to venture capital. Lectures explore the historic role of technological innovation in driving economic development and the complementary contributions of the state and of financial speculation to mobilizing resources for investment in the development and deployment of innovative technologies.
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F540 : Topics in Applied Asset Management
This course will provide a detailed understanding of the main issues in applied portfolio design and related topics in practical asset management and risk management. We first consider how to overcome the problems with the use of mean variance methods, which are industry standard. A range of alternative modern approaches will then be discussed. We will examine the role of the predictability in both expected returns and volatility for position sizing, the use of leverage, managing risk through vol targeting, directional prediction, volatility timing, the use of quantile and expectile regression methods and finally the importance of recognising regimes of predictability. The practical focus will be on equity markets but we will also consider FX and futures markets while studying carry and momentum strategies to some degree.