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University Bulletin: Undergraduate Programs 2003-2004 The George Washington University  

 
   
 

ECONOMICS

Professors J.L. Gastwirth, R.M. Dunn, Jr., R.S. Goldfarb, A.M. Yezer, J.J. Cordes, J. Pelzman, R.P. Trost, B.L. Boulier, H.S. Watson, M.D. Bradley, S.C. Smith, P. Labadie, G.L. Kaminsky, D.O. Parsons, R.F. Phillips (Chair), M.O. Moore, N. Vonortas, F.L. Joutz, S. Joshi
Associate Professors A.S. Malik, S.M. Suranovic, W.P. Mullin, V. Fon, R.M. Samaniego
Assistant Professors M. Cipriani, C. Wei, S. Emran, M.X. Chen, A. Fostel, T. Sinclair, P. Carrillo, S. McCoskey Adjunct Professor S.N. Kirby
Professorial Lecturers R.S. Belous, D. Fixler, H. Hertzfeld, H. Stekler, F.D. Weiss
Associate Professorial Lecturers L. Clauser, N. Pham

Master of Arts in the field of economics—Prerequisite: (1) a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in economics or with course work in economics that includes intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory (equivalent to Econ 101, 102 or 21718; (2) an understanding of basic calculus, equivalent to Math 3132. Applications are accepted for the fall semester only.

Required: the general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and completion of one of the following options.

Option A: 30 credits of course work, including Econ 301, 305, 375, 376, and either 302 or 306; and five additional courses chosen in consultation with the Department's M.A. advisor. (Four of these additional courses come from two clusters—groups of related courses—with two courses from each cluster. An M.A. thesis may be substituted for the two courses in one of these clusters.) Students must earn at least a grade of B– in Econ 301, 305, and either 302 or 306.

Option B (primarily for those interested in pursuing a Ph.D.): 30 credits of course work, including Econ 301, 302, 305, 306, 375, 376, and either 303 or 307; three additional courses chosen in consultation with the Department's M.A. advisor. Two of these three additional courses (unless only one is available) should fulfill the requirements of one of the Department's Ph.D. fields (excluding micro and macro theory). Students must earn at least a grade of B– in Econ 301, 305, and either 302 or 306.

Doctor of Philosophy in the field of economics—The Ph.D. program involves study in two sequential units. Unit I includes satisfactory completion of required course work, and passing the General Examination. This first unit must be concluded within five years after entry into the program. Upon successful completion of Unit I, students are considered for admission to Unit II, the dissertation stage, which must be completed within five years after entry. In all cases, however, the student is expected to complete the doctorate within eight years after admission.

Students must meet the general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. For Unit I, requirements include core theory and econometrics courses—Econ 301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 307, 375, and 376—plus 24 additional credits of 300-level (or approved 200-level) course work and passing the General Examination.

General Examination: The General Examination consists of two preliminary examinations, one in microeconomic theory and one in macroeconomic theory, and two field examinations. Students must take the preliminary examinations within three semesters of entering the program and before any field examinations are taken. Field examinations are given in econometrics, economic development, environmental and natural resource economics, health economics, industrial organization, international economics, international finance, labor economics, monetary theory and policy, public finance, and regional and urban economics. To pass the General Examination, students must earn a grade of "satisfactory pass" or better in the preliminary examinations in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and in one of the two field examinations and no grade below "bare pass." Two of the examinations, preliminary or field, may be taken a second time with the approval of the Department. No further opportunity to take the examinations is permitted. Substitution of a field examination (in an area not originally chosen by the student) to satisfy the requirements of the General Examination is equivalent to taking a field examination a second time. Students should consult with the professors responsible for their fields and notify the Department two months in advance of their intention to take the examinations. If such notification is not given sufficiently in advance, it may not be possible to sit for the examination. For Unit II, the requirements include formulation of an acceptable dissertation proposal, completion of a dissertation that demonstrates the candidate's ability to do original research, and 24 credits of additional graduate course work, of which at least 12 credits must be dissertation research. Students, including those who have an accepted dissertation proposal, must enroll in a dissertation proposal seminar (Econ 397) in the first semester after promotion to Unit II. Satisfactory performance in the seminar will be equivalent to 3 credits of Unit II course work. In cases where knowledge outside the discipline of economics is critical to the student's research field, up to 6 credits in Unit II may consist of required courses outside the Economics Department. Departmental prerequisite: Courses at the 300 level are specifically designed for economics graduate students and typically require knowledge of calculus and one or more of the core theory and econometrics courses. Less-well-prepared graduate students in other disciplines may register for 200-level courses after having completed Econ 21718 or 218 and 219, or 101 and 102, unless the course description indicates that these prerequisites have been waived. Intermediate-level micro and macro courses taken elsewhere usually satisfy this requirement, but introductory or first-year courses do not. Graduate students in economics can take 200-level courses only with permission of their advisor.
214 Survey of Mathematical Economics (3) Fon
  For graduate students in fields other than economics. Differentiation, partial differentiation, and economic optimization problems; comparative statics; input–output analysis; difference, differential equations, and economic applications. Prerequisite: one semester of calculus and Econ 21718
217–18 Survey of Economics (3–3) Goldfarb, Watson, Bradley, Fon, Joutz, Malik, Sinclair
  Intermediate-level microeconomic theory (Econ 217) and intermediate-level macroeconomic theory (Econ 218) for graduate students in fields other than economics. (Econ 217 and 218—fall and spring)
219 Managerial Economics (3) Boulier, Fon, Goldfarb
  Intermediate microeconomic theory, with emphasis on production and costs, market structure and pricing, risk analysis, and investment theory and capital budgeting. Credit can be earned for only one of Econ 217, 219, and 220. (Fall and spring)
220 Managerial Economics for MBAs (2) Boulier
  Intermediate microeconomic theory, with emphasis on production and costs, market structure and pricing, risk analysis, and investment theory and capital budgeting. Credit can be earned for only one of Econ 217, 219, and 220. (Fall and spring)
221 Economics in Policy Analysis (3) Cordes, Brock, Goldfarb
  Same as PPol 204.
222 Benefit–Cost Analysis (3) Cordes
  The application of microeconomic theory and welfare economics to the empirical evaluation of public policies and programs. Applied welfare economics as a framework for policy analysis; empirical measures of welfare change; techniques of benefit–cost analysis. Prerequisite: Econ 221 or PPol 204.
237 Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources (3) Malik
  Analysis of public policy problems relating to the environment and natural resources development and management. Prerequisite: Econ 217. (Spring)
239 Economics of Defense (3) Staff
  Economic analysis applied to national security planning and objectives. Analysis of defense establishment problems, including manpower, the defense industry base, procurement policy. (Spring)
248 Health Economics (3) Staff
  Demand for medical care; organization of the health care delivery industry; policy issues on regulation, efficiency, and allocation of health care services. (Fall)
250 Survey of Economic Development (3) Smith, Emran
  An introduction to economic problems faced by less developed countries. Emphasis placed on applications to policy-making and evaluation. Prerequisite: Econ 217 or 280 or equivalent. (Spring)
255 Economics of Technological Change (3) Vonortas
  Economics of research and development; innovation and growth; the role of government in the development and use of new technology. (Fall)
269–70 Economy of China (3–3) Staff
  Econ 269: Analysis of organization, operation, policies, and problems. Development of the economy since 1949. Econ 270: Examination of critical problems of development. Prerequisite to Econ 270: Econ 269 or permission of instructor.(Academic year)
271 Economy of Japan (3) Staff
  Analysis of Japanese economic institutions and their contribution to Japan's development. (Fall)
280 Survey of International Economics (3) Moore, Suranovic
  Introductory-level international trade and finance, primarily for Elliott School students. Topics include the economic effects of trade liberalization and protection, exchange rate determination, and macroeconomic policies in an open economy. Prerequisite: Econ 11–12.
283 Survey of International Trade Theory and Policy (3) Dunn, Moore, Pelzman, Suranovic
  For graduate students in fields other than economics. Survey of international economics and policy; application of comparative advantage and other arguments for trade; impact of trade on a domestic economy; new arguments for protectionism; regional trading blocs. (Fall and spring)
284 Survey of International Macroeconomics and Finance Theory and Policy (3) Dunn, Moore, Pelzman, Suranovic, Kaminsky
  For graduate students in fields other than economics. Open-economy macroeconomics; international finance; balance of payments accounting; exchange markets; alternative models of balance of payments determination and adjustment; behavior of flexible exchange rate systems. (Fall and spring)
285–86 Economic Development of Latin America (3–3) Staff
  Econ 285: Diversity of structures of Latin American economies; import substituting industrialization; inflation; problems of underemployment and income distribution. Econ 286: Structure of trade; protection, exports, and economic development; regional and global economic integration; foreign investment, multinational enterprise, and technology transfer. (Academic year)
290 Principles of Demography (3) Boulier
  Introduction to basic demographic perspectives and data; methods for analysis of population size, distribution, and composition; determinants and consequences of population trends. Departmental prerequisite waived. Same as Geog/Soc 290/Stat 290.(Fall)
291 Methods of Demographic Analysis (3) Boulier
  Basic methods for analysis of mortality, natality, and migration; population estimates and projections; estimation of demographic measures from incomplete data. Departmental prerequisite waived. Same as Geog/Soc 291/Stat 291. (Spring)
295 Special Topics (3) Staff
  Topics vary, depending on current issues of interest and faculty availability. (Fall and spring)
298 Reading and Research (3)
  Limited to master's degree candidates.
299–300 Thesis Research (3–3)
301 Microeconomic Theory I (3) Joshi, Fon
  Theory of unconstrained optimization; optimization subject to equality and inequality constraints, along with applications. Profit maximization, utility maximization and cost minimization, concave and quasi-concave functions, monotone comparative statics, duality theory, the envelope theorem and Le Chatelier principle, and the Kuhn–Tucker conditions. (Fall)
302 Microeconomic Theory II (3) Joshi, Fon
  Expected utility theory, general equilibrium in a pure exchange economy and economy with production, welfare theorems and the core theory of the competitive firm in the short run and long run, monopoly and price discrimination, models of oligopoly. Prerequisite: Econ 301. (Spring)
303 Microeconomic Theory III (3) Joshi, Fon
  Theory of games, including Nash equilibrium and its refinements and comparative statics, evolutionary game theory, multistage games and subgame perfection, repeated games and oligopolistic supergames, static and dynamic Bayesian games, auction theory, and bargaining theory. Prerequisite: Econ 302. (Spring)
305 Macroeconomic Theory I (3) Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Wei
  Alternative theories of income, employment, and the price level; impact of monetary and fiscal policy; role of expectations in the economy; and microfoundations of macroeconomic models and dynamic analysis. (Fall)
306 Macroeconomic Theory II (3) Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Wei
  Extensions of alternative models of income determination, economic growth, and the application of analytical frameworks to the U.S. and international economies. Prerequisite: Econ 305. (Spring)
307 Macroeconomic Theory III (3) Bradley, Labadie, Joutz, Samaniego
  Extensions to stochastic and dynamic general equilibrium frameworks, with emphasis on economic policy. Prerequisite: Econ 306. (Fall)
323–24 Monetary Theory and Policy (3–3) Labadie
  Theory of monetary policy within the framework of contemporary American central banking. (Academic year)
341–42 Labor Economics (3–3) Parsons
  Theory of wages and employment, analysis of labor supply and demand. Analysis of unemployment; unions; wage regulation. (Academic year)
345–46 Industrial Organization (3–3) Mullin
  Econ 345: Economic theory and evidence regarding industrial market structure, conduct, and economic performance. Econ 346: Economic issues in antitrust and government regulation of the U.S. economy. Econ 345 is prerequisite to Econ 346.(Academic year)
351 Development Economics I (3) Smith, Emran
  Major analytic concepts, measures, theoretical models, and empirical methods of development economics. (Fall)
352 Development Economics II (3) Smith, Emran
  Continuation of Econ 351. In-depth examination of special research topics with emphasis on methods in applied microeconomics. (Fall and spring)
357 Regional Economics (3) Yezer
  Study of regional planning and growth models, including input–output, programming, and econometric models used by planning agencies; analysis of interregional production, trade, migration, firm location, and pricing models. (Fall)
358 Urban Economics (3) Yezer
  Analysis of spatial relationships among economic activities within an urban area including the urban land, labor, and housing markets; urban transportation models; fiscal relationships among jurisdictions. (Spring)
363 Public Finance I (3) Cordes, Watson
  Theoretical and empirical analysis of the economic role of the public sector and the effects of public expenditures on resource allocation and income distribution. Topics include public goods, externalities, social insurance, and benefit–cost analysis.(Fall)
364 Public Finance II (3) Cordes, Watson
  Theoretical and empirical analysis of the effects of taxes and transfers on the allocation of resources and income distribution. Topics include partial and general equilibrium models of tax incidence, effects of taxes on labor supply, saving, and portfolio choices of households and on investment and financing decisions of firms.(Spring)
375 Econometrics I (3) Phillips, Trost
  Statistical foundations for econometrics; standard methods of estimation and inference for classical and generalized regression models. Same as Stat 275. (Fall)
376 Econometrics II (3) Phillips, Trost
  Topics may include asymptotic theory, statistical endogeneity, instrumental variables estimation, discrete and limited dependent variable models, and time–series models. Prerequisite: Econ 375. Same as Stat 276. (Spring)
377 Econometrics III (3) Phillips, Trost
  Econometric methods for systems of equations and panel data, with additional topics that may vary from year to year. Prerequisite: Econ 376.
378 Economic Forecasting (3) Joutz
  Introduction to the theoretical and applied aspects of economic forecasting. Topics include the role of forecasting, univariate time-series analysis, single equation models, multiple series models, and evaluation of forecasts. Prerequisite: Econ 375 or equivalent or permission of instructor. (Spring)
379 Laboratory in Applied Econometrics (3) Trost, Joutz, Phillips
  Application of econometric theory and the use of econometric software; students are required to write an empirical research paper. The course usually deals exclusively with either micro or macroeconomic issues. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs.
381 International Trade Theory (3) Moore, Pelzman, Suranovic
  International trade theory, including alternative models of the gains from trade and evaluations of the new justifications for protectionism, and analysis of commercial policy, factor flows, and trade and investment with multinational corporations. Prerequisite: most sections require calculus or permission of instructor. (Fall)
382 International Finance and Open-Economy Macroeconomics (3) Kaminsky
  International finance, including alternative models of balance of payments behavior and adjustment, payments accounting, exchange markets, and alternative exchange-rate regimes. (Spring)
395 Advanced Special Topics (3) Staff
  Topics vary depending upon current interests and faculty availability. Open to graduate students in economics. May be repeated for credit.
397 Dissertation Proposal Seminar (3) Staff
  Limited to Doctor of Philosophy candidates in Unit II. Critical analysis of current research. Formulation of a dissertation proposal and development of dissertation research strategies.
398 Advanced Reading and Research (arr.) Staff
  Limited to students preparing for the Doctor of Philosophy general examination. May be repeated for credit.
399 Dissertation Research (arr.) Staff
  Limited to Doctor of Philosophy candidates. May be repeated for credit.
 

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© 2008 University Bulletin
The George Washington University All rights reserved.

Information in this bulletin is generally accurate as of fall 2007. The University reserves the right to change courses, programs, fees, and the academic calendar, or to make other changes deemed necessary or desirable, giving advance notice of change when possible.