Course Descriptions

ECO 101 - (S) Current Economic Issues

3 cr.

Not a substitute for ECO 153 -ECO 154  or other upper-level economics courses.  Not open to students with prior credit for ECO 153  or ECO 154 . 

Health Administration and Human Resources majors may substitute ECO 153  and ECO 154  for ECO 101.

ECO 153 - (S) Principles of Microeconomics

ECO 153K - (S) Principles of Microeconomics

ECO 154 - (S) Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO 154K - (S) Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO 303 - (S) The Economics of Environmental Issues

3 cr.

This course provides students with a framework for viewing environmental issues as economic issues.  Alternative methods for addressing environmental problems are examined, including “command and control” regulatory policies and “market-based” policies.  The evolution of public policies toward the environment is discussed.

ECO 361 - Intermediate Microeconomics

3 cr.

This course centers on the analysis of production and cost theories.  The topics studied are pure competition, monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition and factor pricing.  Economics majors take the course in their sophomore year; Finance majors in their junior year.

ECO 362 - Intermediate Macroeconomics

3 cr.

This course centers on the study of national income accounting, price level fluctuations, issues of unemployment, inflation, full employment, and the impact of monetary and fiscal policy on income level and distribution.  Economics majors take the course in their sophomore year; Finance majors in their junior year.

ECO 363 - (EPW) Applied Econometrics

3 cr.

This course covers the modeling, estimation, and testing of relationships derived from economic theorizing. Topics include single-equation estimation methods and inference procedures in the context of the classical least-squares model and its extensions, and their applications using economic data. Conducted as a workshop/seminar, the course also covers the various aspects of researching and writing empirical papers as practiced in economics.

ECO 364 - Labor Economics and Labor Regulations

3 cr.

Analysis of labor supply and demand; measurement and theory of unemployment; occupational choice; wage differentials; labor-market issues and policies; labor legislation.

ECO 365 - Mathematical Economics

3 cr.

This course studies the methodology of modern economic analysis.  Emphasis is placed on developing the rigorous theoretical foundations of micro and macroeconomics using tools of calculus and linear algebra.  Topics such as comparative static analysis, general -equilibrium analysis, consumer and firm behavior, intertemporal decision making, decision-making under uncertainty, theory of growth and rational-expectation hypothesis are covered.

ECO 366 - Economic Geography

3 cr.

Examines the broad areas of the spatial organization of economic systems and the location of economic activity. The discussion encompasses spatial decision-making for manufacturing, service sector, and agricultural enterprises. The role of transportation in determining optimal locations and optimal flow of goods, information, and people will be emphasized. The spatial organization of the growth & development of cities and regions will also be discussed, as will the related topic of the development of nations within the global economy. 

ECO 405 - Introduction to Behavioral Economics

3 cr.

This course compares the novel insights offered by the discipline of Behavioral Economics with some salient results of classical economic theory. It considers whether the new behavioral models improved our ability to predict and understand choice under certainty and uncertainty, probabilistic judgment, and intertemporal choice. Topics include various behavioral paradoxes, heuristics and biases, loss aversion, and prospect theory.

ECO 410 - Economic Concepts and Applications

ECO 460 - Monetary and Financial Economics

3 cr.

This course emphasizes the interrelations between financial markets, financial institutions and aggregate economic activity.  Topics include: an overview of financial institutions, introduction to money and capital markets, fundamentals of interest rates, the money supply process, the conduct of monetary policy, and other topics that occupy the subject matter of money and financial markets.

ECO 461 - Managerial Economics

ECO 462 - Urban and Regional Economics

ECO 463 - Public Finance and Taxation

ECO 464 - Environmental Economics and Policy

ECO 465 - Development Economics

3 cr.

This course introduces students to contemporary development economics.  Topics include: the concept and measurement of economic development, the problems and prospects of the less developed countries, and the alternative theories and processes of economic development.

ECO 470 - Law and Economics

3 cr.

This course focuses on the public-policy implications of law and economics.  It is based on the notion that legal rules establish implicit prices for different types of behavior and that consequences of these rules can be analyzed using microeconomics.  In particular, microeconomic theory is used to analyze economic aspects of property, contracts, torts, and crime.

ECO 471 - Advanced Macroeconomics

3 cr.

This course centers on the study of recent advances in macroeconomic analysis.  Topics include empirical macroeconomic analysis, open-economy macroeconomics, the role of expectations, economic policy and economic growth.

ECO 490 - Economics Seminar