Courses tagged with "Structural+engineering" (100)

We will apply insights from game theory to explain human social behavior, focusing on novel applications which have heretofore been the realm of psychologists and philosophers—for example, why people speak indirectly, in what sense beauty is socially constructed, and where our moral intuitions come from—and eschewing traditional economic applications such as industrial organization or auctions.

We will employ standard games such as the prisoners dilemma, coordination, hawk-dove, and costly signaling, and use standard game theory tools such as Nash Equilibria, Subgame Perfection, and Perfect Bayesian Equilibria. These tools will be taught from scratch and no existing knowledge of game theory, economics, or mathematics is required. At the same time, students familiar with these games and tools will not find the course redundant because of the focus on non-orthodox applications.

This course is a survey of modern macroeconomics at a quite advanced level. Topics include the neoclassical growth model, overlapping generations, endogenous growth models, business cycles, incomplete nominal adjustment, incomplete financial markets, fiscal and monetary policy, consumption and savings, and unemployment. The course is also an introduction to the mathematical tools used in modern macroeconomics, including dynamic systems, optimal control, and dynamic programming.

This course uses the tools of macroeconomics to study various macroeconomic policy problems in-depth. The problems range from economic growth in the long run, to government finances in the intermediate run, and economic stability in the short run. Many economic models used today are surveyed.

This course focuses on the following topics: basic theory of consumer behavior; production and costs; partial equilibrium analysis of pricing in competitive and monopolistic markets; general equilibrium; welfare; and externalities. It is recommended for students planning to apply to graduate school in economics, accounting, or finance.

This course covers, with a focus on both theory and empirics, advanced topics in international trade (as well as inter-regional trade and economic geography.) It includes the study of positive issues, such as: Why do countries trade? What goods do countries trade? What are the implications of openness for the location of production, industries, occupations, and innovative activity? And, what impedes trade and why do some countries deliberately erect policy impediments to trade? The course also concerns normative issues, such as: Is trade openness beneficial to a representative agent? And, are there winners and losers from trade and if so, can we identify them? Throughout, these issues are approached in neoclassical settings as well as those with market failures, at the industry-level as well as the firm-level, and in the presence of both mobile and immobile factors (e.g., FDI, offshoring of tasks, multinational firms and immigration).

This course will analyze the causes and consequences of international trade and investment. We will investigate why nations trade, what they trade, and who gains (or not) from this trade. We will then analyze the motives for countries or organizations to restrict or regulate international trade and study the effects of such policies on economic welfare. Topics covered will include the effects of trade on economic growth and wage inequality, multinationals and foreign direct investment, international trade agreements and current trade policy disputes.

This course will provide a solid foundation in probability and statistics for economists and other social scientists. We will emphasize topics needed for further study of econometrics and provide basic preparation for 14.32. Topics include elements of probability theory, sampling theory, statistical estimation, and hypothesis testing.

This is an introductory course in macroeconomics offered at the American University in Bulgaria in Spring 2008. It provi

This course is an introduction to labor economics with an emphasis on applied microeconomic theory and empirical analysis. We are especially interested in the link between research and public policy. Topics to be covered include: labor supply and demand, taxes and transfers, minimum wages, immigration, human capital, education production, inequality, discrimination, unions and strikes, and unemployment.

The aim of this course is to acquaint students with traditional topics in labor economics and to encourage the development of independent research interests. We will cover a systematic development of the theory of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital. Topics include wage and employment determination, turnover, search, immigration, unemployment, equalizing differences, and institutions in the labor market. There will be particular emphasis on the interaction between theoretical and empirical modeling.

This is a graduate course in labor economics. The course will focus on covering theory and evidence on inequality, wage structure, skill demands, employment, job loss, and early-life determinants of long-run outcomes. Particular areas of focus are: (1) wage determination, including the Roy model, equalizing wage differentials, and models of discrimination; (2) the roles played by supply, demand, institutions, technology and trade in the evolving distribution of income.

This course covers issues in the theory of consumption, investment and asset prices. We lay out the basic models first, and then examine the empirical facts that motivate extensions to these models.

Topics covered in a traditional college level introductory macroeconomics course. Circular Flow of Income and Expenditures. Parsing Gross Domestic Product. More on Final and Intermediate GDP Contributions. Investment and Consumption. Income and Expenditure Views of GDP. Components of GDP. Examples of Accounting for GDP. Real GDP and Nominal GDP. GDP Deflator. Example Calculating Real GDP with a Deflator. Introduction to Inflation. Actual CPI-U Basket of Goods. Inflation Data. Moderate Inflation in a Good Economy. Stagflation. Real and Nominal Return. Calculating Real Return in Last Year Dollars. Relation Between Nominal and Real Returns and Inflation. Deflation. Velocity of Money Rather than Quantity Driving Prices. Deflation Despite Increases in Money Supply. Deflationary Spiral. Hyperinflation. Unemployment Rate Primer. Phillips Curve. Interest as Rent for Money. Money Supply and Demand Impacting Interest Rates. The Business Cycle. Aggregate Demand. Shifts in Aggregate Demand. Long-Run Aggregate Supply. Short Run Aggregate Supply. Demand-Pull Inflation under Johnson. Real GDP driving Price. Cost Push Inflation. Monetary and Fiscal Policy. Tax Lever of Fiscal Policy. Breakdown of Gas Prices. Short-Run Oil Prices. Keynesian Economics. Risks of Keynesian Thinking. Overview of Fractional Reserve Banking. Weaknesses of Fractional Reserve Lending. Full Reserve Banking. Money Supply- M0 M1 and M2. Simple Fractional Reserve Accounting part 1. Simple Fractional Reserve Accounting (part 2). MPC and Multiplier. Mathy Version of MPC and Multiplier (optional). Consumption Function Basics. Generalized Linear Consumption Function. Consumption Function with Income Dependent Taxes. Keynesian Cross. Details on Shifting Aggregate Planned Expenditures. Keynesian Cross and the Multiplier. Investment and Real Interest Rates. Connecting the Keynesian Cross to the IS-Curve. Loanable Funds Interpretation of IS Curve. LM part of the IS-LM model. Government Spending and the IS-LM model. Balance of Payments- Current Account. Balance of Payments- Capital Account. Why Current and Capital Accounts Net Out. Accumulating Foreign Currency Reserves. Using Reserves to Stabilize Currency. Speculative Attack on a Currency. Financial Crisis in Thailand Caused by Speculative Attack. Math Mechanics of Thai Banking Crisis.

This class presents microeconomic theory and applications of consumer and producer behavior and welfare analysis at an intermediate level. In addition to standard competitive models, we study deviations due to externalities, asymmetric information, and imperfect rationality. We apply this material to policy debates including minimum wage regulations, food stamp provision, trade protection, educational credentials, health insurance markets, and real estate markets.

This course applies microeconomic theory to analysis of public policy. It builds from the microeconomic model of consumer behavior and extends to operation of single and multiple markets and analysis of why markets sometimes fail. We will study empirical examples to evaluate theory, focusing on the casual effects of policy interventions on economic outcomes. Topics include minimum wages and employment, food stamps and consumer welfare, economics of risk and safety regulation, the value of education, and gains from international trade.

This half-semester course provides an introduction to microeconomic theory designed to meet the needs of students in an economics Ph.D. program. Some parts of the course are designed to teach material that all graduate students should know. Others are used to introduce methodologies. Students should be comfortable with multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis.

This course offers an introduction to noncooperative game theory. The course is intended both for graduate students who wish to develop a solid background in game theory in order to pursue research in the applied fields of economics and related disciplines, and for students wishing to specialize in economic theory. While the course is designed for graduate students in economics, it is open to all students who have taken and passed 14.121.

This course covers models of individual decision-making under certainty and uncertainty. Applications include risk sharing and financial markets; contracts and information economics; village economies and national development; models with money and credit; trade, spatial economics and differentiated commodities.

The topic of the class is information economics. The purpose is to give an introduction to some of the main subjects in this field: risk sharing, moral hazard, adverse selection (signaling, screening), mechanism design, decision making under uncertainty. These subjects (and others) will be treated in more depth in the advanced theory courses on Contract Theory.

This course is designed to introduce students to basic microeconomic theory at a relatively rapid pace without the use of complicated mathematics. The focus will be on fundamental economic principles that can be used by managers to think about business problems, including those that arise from coordinating workers and managers inside firms and from dealing with outside market forces and government policies.