ECON 490

Fall 2016 Part of Term 1

Part of Term 1
Aug 22-Dec 7

Topics in Economics

SHOW FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Treatment of special topics in economics.

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated in the same term to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours or 8 graduate hours. May be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 8 graduate hours. Prerequisite: ECON 302 or consent of instructor.

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ECON 490 class schedule data for fall 2016
CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
66575	Lecture-Discussion	A3	9:30AM -10:50AM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Osman, A	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Econ of Poverty Alleviation Section Info: This class will study what works, what does not, and why, in the fight against poverty in developing countries. The course will have a strong methodological and analytical component, specifically focusing on articulating the why behind interventions and policies, and the how behind establishing evidence on the effectiveness of specific interventions and policies. The class will also discuss some fundamentals of behavioral economics, and learn how and when to apply such ideas to policy and program design. The course will focus on interventions and policies that apply to households, small firms, and farms with particular but not exclusive focus on four sections: microfinance, health, agriculture, and education. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66576	Lecture-Discussion	A4	9:30AM -10:50AM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Osman, A	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Econ of Poverty Alleviation Section Info: This class will study what works, what does not, and why, in the fight against poverty in developing countries. The course will have a strong methodological and analytical component, specifically focusing on articulating the why behind interventions and policies, and the how behind establishing evidence on the effectiveness of specific interventions and policies. The class will also discuss some fundamentals of behavioral economics, and learn how and when to apply such ideas to policy and program design. The course will focus on interventions and policies that apply to households, small firms, and farms with particular but not exclusive focus on four sections: microfinance, health, agriculture, and education. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66580	Lecture-Discussion	B3	9:30AM -10:50AM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Lee, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Financial Econometrics Section Info: This course is an introduction to econometric modeling in empirical/computational finance. The course seeks to understand empirical properties of financial data. We also study statistical/probabilistic models behind these stylized facts. First, we review probability/statistics and time series concepts that will be useful to understand financial market dynamics. Then some popular econometric models and estimation methods will be investigated. Both analytical problem sets and data exercises will be assigned as homework, in order to enhance our theoretical and practical skills. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66864	Lecture-Discussion	B4	9:30AM -10:50AM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Lee, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Financial Econometrics Section Info: This course is an introduction to econometric modeling in empirical/computational finance. The course seeks to understand empirical properties of financial data. We also study statistical/probabilistic models behind these stylized facts. First, we review probability/statistics and time series concepts that will be useful to understand financial market dynamics. Then some popular econometric models and estimation methods will be investigated. Both analytical problem sets and data exercises will be assigned as homework, in order to enhance our theoretical and practical skills. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66592	Lecture-Discussion	C3	12:30PM -1:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	McDermott, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Cost-Benefit Analysis Section Info: Cost-Benefit Analysis builds upon the principles and tools you learned in Intermediate Microeconomics. In this course, you will learn to analyze changes in welfare in various market settings such as monopolistic and perfectly competitive markets. You will also learn how to account for uncertainty when weighing costs and benefits as well as how to evaluate potential distributional effects in a weighted cost-benefit analysis. The strategies learned in this class can be used by governments to choose which policies to implement, in court cases to determine what damage awards are appropriate, and for firms to properly value assets for purchase or sale. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
59651	Lecture-Discussion	C4	12:30PM -1:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	McDermott, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Cost-Benefit Analysis Section Info: Cost-Benefit Analysis builds upon the principles and tools you learned in Intermediate Microeconomics. In this course, you will learn to analyze changes in welfare in various market settings such as monopolistic and perfectly competitive markets. You will also learn how to account for uncertainty when weighing costs and benefits as well as how to evaluate potential distributional effects in a weighted cost-benefit analysis. The strategies learned in this class can be used by governments to choose which policies to implement, in court cases to determine what damage awards are appropriate, and for firms to properly value assets for purchase or sale. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66595	Lecture-Discussion	D3	12:30PM -1:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Powers, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Women in the Economy Section Info: In this course, we apply economic models of the labor market and household organization and production to a wide range of important topics, including marriage, fertility, discrimination, and work-family policies. Along the way, we ponder questions like: What are the pros and cons of using the family leave benefits offered by your employer? If women ‘leaned in’, would they be paid more? Why do Millenials appear to value marriage less than the previous generations, and is there anything wrong with that? Should women be rewarded for their looks? And should men be rewarded for being tall? This course will help you better understand society and your own life choices while you hone your economic skills by thinking rigorously about important real-world problems. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66869	Lecture-Discussion	D4	12:30PM -1:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Powers, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Women in the Economy Section Info: In this course, we apply economic models of the labor market and household organization and production to a wide range of important topics, including marriage, fertility, discrimination, and work-family policies. Along the way, we ponder questions like: What are the pros and cons of using the family leave benefits offered by your employer? If women ‘leaned in’, would they be paid more? Why do Millenials appear to value marriage less than the previous generations, and is there anything wrong with that? Should women be rewarded for their looks? And should men be rewarded for being tall? This course will help you better understand society and your own life choices while you hone your economic skills by thinking rigorously about important real-world problems. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66596	Lecture-Discussion	E3	2:00PM -3:20PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Yang, L	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Economics of Immigration Section Info: This course is restricted to Economics Majors. Read more about Economics Course Restrictions and Overrides: http://www.economics.illinois.edu/undergrad/resources/current/ This course covers topics regarding immigration to developed countries, focusing on the U.S. Topics include: a brief history of U.S. immigration policy; models of migration; labor market, demographic, and fiscal impacts of immigration; geographic preference and ethnic enclaves; and outcomes for immigrants by generational status (assimilation) and race/ ethnic group. Course requirements include an in-class presentation and a paper. Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Economics department. Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66870	Lecture-Discussion	E4	2:00PM -3:20PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Yang, L	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Special Approval: Departmental Approval Required Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Economics of Immigration Section Info: This section is restricted to MSPE students with office approval. Any MSPE students wanting office approval to register need to email mspe@illinois.edu. This course covers topics regarding immigration to developed countries, focusing on the U.S. Topics include: a brief history of U.S. immigration policy; models of migration; labor market, demographic, and fiscal impacts of immigration; geographic preference and ethnic enclaves; and outcomes for immigrants by generational status (assimilation) and race/ ethnic group. Course requirements include an in-class presentation and a paper. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign. Restricted to MS:Economics:Policy Econ -UIUC.
66600	Lecture-Discussion	F3	3:30PM -4:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Chung, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Econometrics of Policy Eval Section Info: The goal of this course is to develop basic tools to understand and use modern econometric methods. We focus on estimating and making inference for causal effects with a special attention to policy relevant problems. Topics include randomized experiments, natural experiments, matching methods, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity. We discuss theoretical aspects of these methods with detailed applications. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66871	Lecture-Discussion	F4	3:30PM -4:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Chung, E	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Econometrics of Policy Eval Section Info: The goal of this course is to develop basic tools to understand and use modern econometric methods. We focus on estimating and making inference for causal effects with a special attention to policy relevant problems. Topics include randomized experiments, natural experiments, matching methods, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity. We discuss theoretical aspects of these methods with detailed applications. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66602	Lecture-Discussion	G3	3:30PM -4:50PM	MW	David Kinley Hall	Amini Behbahani, A	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Economic Growth Section Info: Why are some countries rich and others poor? This course will provide a theoretical and empirical examination of economic growth and income differences across countries. It will focus on both the historical experience of countries that are currently rich and the process of catch-up among poor countries. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66647	Lecture-Discussion	H3	9:30AM -10:50AM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Zhao, R	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Monetary Economics Section Info: This course studies a variety of topics related to money, banking, and financial markets. In particular, it provides an introduction to money and its role in the economy, bond market and interest rates, stock market and other financial assets, exchange rate, banks and regulation on banking industry, money supply process and monetary policy. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66608	Lecture-Discussion	I3	9:30AM -10:50AM	TR	David Kinley Hall	DiIanni, I	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: American Economic History Section Info: This course is restricted to Economics Majors. Read more about Economics Course Restrictions and Overrides: http://www.economics.illinois.edu/undergrad/resources/current/ This course is a survey of the history of the American economy from the colonial era to the present. We will study the features and development of the American economy and examine the watershed events that have transformed it over its history. Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Economics department. Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66610	Lecture-Discussion	J3	9:30AM -10:50AM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Marx, B	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: The Nonprofit Economy Section Info: Many economic activities do not appear to maximize profits. Nonprofit organizations make up a large and growing share of the economy, while businesses engage in “corporate social responsibility”, and governments and individuals give away resources. This course uses economics to understand these activities and evaluate policies that influence them. Topics include market failure, redistribution, theories of nonprofit organizations, evidence on determinants of charitable donations, and analysis of the for-profit/not-for-profit balance within major industries. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66872	Lecture-Discussion	J4	9:30AM -10:50AM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Marx, B	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: The Nonprofit Economy Section Info: Many economic activities do not appear to maximize profits. Nonprofit organizations make up a large and growing share of the economy, while businesses engage in “corporate social responsibility”, and governments and individuals give away resources. This course uses economics to understand these activities and evaluate policies that influence them. Topics include market failure, redistribution, theories of nonprofit organizations, evidence on determinants of charitable donations, and analysis of the for-profit/not-for-profit balance within major industries. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66611	Lecture-Discussion	K3	11:00AM -12:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Arvan, L	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Econ of Organizations Section Info: The course focuses on the dual problems of first, providing coherence to activities within the organization and second, providing suitable motivation for organization members. Different members of the organization have different pieces of information. An effective organization addresses the dual problems by managing well the information asymmetries. This economics approach to organizations is compared and contrasted to non-economic approaches. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66873	Lecture-Discussion	K4	11:00AM -12:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Arvan, L	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Econ of Organizations Section Info: The course focuses on the dual problems of first, providing coherence to activities within the organization and second, providing suitable motivation for organization members. Different members of the organization have different pieces of information. An effective organization addresses the dual problems by managing well the information asymmetries. This economics approach to organizations is compared and contrasted to non-economic approaches. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66646	Lecture-Discussion	L3	11:00AM -12:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Shakiba, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Game Theory Section Info: This course is the introduction of game theory and strategic decision making. We will cover basic concepts and topics in modern game theory, such as Nash equilibrium, dominance, voting, bargaining, auction, adverse selection, etc, which have broad applications in economics, politics, psychology, and everyday life. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66874	Lecture-Discussion	M3	11:00AM -12:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Buckley, B	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Environmental Economics Section Info: Trash, climate change, overpopulation! Is humanity doomed? This class will use economics to get to the core of these issues. We will explore the market and regulatory solutions to these problems to see when they work and backfire. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66875	Lecture-Discussion	M4	11:00AM -12:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Buckley, B	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Environmental Economics Section Info: Trash, climate change, overpopulation! Is humanity doomed? This class will use economics to get to the core of these issues. We will explore the market and regulatory solutions to these problems to see when they work and backfire. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66613	Lecture-Discussion	N3	12:30PM -1:50PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Shin, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Economic Forecasting Section Info: This course provides an overview of methods for economic forecasting. Topics include linear regressions; modeling and forecasting trend and seasonality; characterizing and forecasting cycles; MA, AR, and ARMA models; forecasting with regressions; evaluating and combining forecasts. Advanced topics such as unit roots, stochastic trends, ARIMA models, and smoothing will be covered as time permits. Students need to write computer program codes (MATLAB, Eviews, or R) to do forecasting. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66876	Lecture-Discussion	N4	12:30PM -1:50PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Shin, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Economic Forecasting Section Info: This course provides an overview of methods for economic forecasting. Topics include linear regressions; modeling and forecasting trend and seasonality; characterizing and forecasting cycles; MA, AR, and ARMA models; forecasting with regressions; evaluating and combining forecasts. Advanced topics such as unit roots, stochastic trends, ARIMA models, and smoothing will be covered as time permits. Students need to write computer program codes (MATLAB, Eviews, or R) to do forecasting. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
66877	Lecture-Discussion	O3	12:30PM -1:50PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Wang, X	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Financial Economics Section Info: The aim of this course is to introduce students to several topics in finance and the connection to monetary policy. The first part will introduce basic financial products (stocks, bonds, futures, options, and other derivatives) and asset pricing theory including capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and arbitrage pricing theory (APT). The second part will cover financial institutions and the organization of financial markets. The last part will cover some topics on financial crisis and monetary policy. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66619	Lecture-Discussion	P3	2:00PM -3:20PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Das, S	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Econ of Terror, War & Conflict Section Info: The course aims to cover three inter-related topics: inter-country way, internal conflicts (including civil war and ethnic conflicts), and terrorism. It would discuss why countries may go to or prepare for war at phenomenal economic cost when negotiated settlement is an option, choice and efficiency of alternative methods of raising an army and economic costs of war, determinants of internal conflicts such as inequality, ethnic diversity, poverty and macroeconomic shocks, and their characteristics, causes and patterns of terrorism, trade off between defensive and offensive counter-terrorism strategies and economic impacts of terrorism. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
66622	Lecture-Discussion	Q3	3:30PM -4:50PM	TR	David Kinley Hall	Li, Z	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Game Theory Section Info: This course is the introduction of game theory and strategic decision making. We will cover basic concepts and topics in modern game theory, such as Nash equilibrium, dominance, voting, bargaining, auction, adverse selection, etc, which have broad applications in economics, politics, psychology, and everyday life. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
63753	Lecture-Discussion	R3	2:00PM -3:20PM	TR	Davenport Hall	Saenz Munoz, L	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/22/16-12/07/16 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: History of Modern Econ Thought Section Info: This course is about the history of ideas in economics to help the students to understand and appreciate the intellectual development that have shaped the world as we know it. The first half of the course will be devoted to the era of mercantilism, followed by the school of the Physiocrats, and then covering the ideas of what Keynes coined as “classical economists”, such as Smith, Hume, Malthus, Stuart Mill, Ricardo, and Marx, among others. The second half of the course will start from Keynes and Keynesianism (yes! they are different), followed by the monetarists up to the Lucas critique and the rational expectations revolution. The neoclassical synthesis and its origins will serve as a bridge to move from "classical" to "modern" economic thought. Finally, the course will explore the impact of the history of ideas in the current macro-development literature. A reflection on the methodological aspects of economics as a science will take place during the semester as well, probably at the beginning of the course. In the end, this is nothing but a story of scientific revolutions with several paradigms opposing each other, and influencing the economic policy that has transformed the fate of nations; As Keynes wrote in the first pages of his General Theory (1936), "the ideas of economists (...) are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else". Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.